VIA Verona 2025 Advanced Seminar with Professor Attilio Scienza: Rhetoric, Metaphor and Wine Story-telling

The 3rd day of VIA Verona 2025 Flagship Course kicked off with another Seminar from Professor Attilio Scienza, this time discussing "Rhetoric, Metaphor and Wine Story-telling".

Il Professore explained that modern consumers are overwhelmed with choice in the wine market. Consumers often fall back on an attractive label, a brand name they recognise, a grape they know, or a territory they are familiar with when they are selecting wines from such a vast sea of available bottles. Our job as Italian Wine Ambassadors is to help consumers make the right choices, the best choices, no matter what wines they are seeking. Scienza said, "the magic phrase in marketing and communication is 'if you don't tell your story, you don't exist' ".

HOW TO TELL A STORY

Modern storytelling comes from the ancient Greek concept of "myth and story". How do we go about teaching people to tell a story effectively? Fortunately, Aristotle wrote two treatises on storytelling, whose concepts are still in use today. Scienza explained that every story has four phases: the beginning, the central argument, the proof, and the conclusion. The first three phases are addressed through the use of persuasion and rhetoric, which he described as "the art of public speaking". Rhetoric organizes ideas, unveils the truth, makes visible what was invisible, and ultimately is persuasive, ensuring the conclusion of a story has a positive and powerful impact on the audience.

USE OF RHETORIC

The use of contrasts is something we see all the time in wine communication; for example, natural vs. conventional winemaking, native vs. international grapes, oak vs. steel vessels. Contrasts is also a technique developed by Aristotle and can be a powerful starting point for any kind of persuasive communication. Scienza put forth the "five canons of rhetoric":

1. 'Invento' – the research or foundation of the discourse/argument

2. 'Disposio' – the structure or outline 

3. 'Orazio' – the style of speaking, bringing empathy to the discourse with use of hands, eyes, body language, etc.

4. 'Memoria' – remembering all the points needed for the argument

5. 'Impatto' – the impact, where the speaker finds a closing phrase that is powerful

THE JOURNEY

Scienza explained the importance of figures of speech in discourse. Rhetorical devices including metaphor, paradox, hyperbole, oxymoron, antithesis and simile are all used to "transfer" difficult concepts into more simple ideas. In wine storytelling, metaphor is especially helpful, particularly when looking at the metaphors of journey, border and anguish.

Beginning with journey, Scienza said the metaphor of life applies to wine, where every wine is a journey and every journey is a life. He pointed to the journey in the archetypal myth of Dionysus. We know that vines arrived in Italy through human migration, so Dionysus' journey is significant. Dionysus was the Greek god of wine, and his legendary journey to teach the ways of wine culture to various regions outside Greece brought him in contact with many challenges. Scienza points out that this fictional story "transforms wine from just a beverage into something more mythical". Dionysus' journey is also full of symbols reflecting the true ancient Greeks and their physical journey to Italy with their wines and vines. We see the central character attacked by pirates, overcoming difficulties, successfully arriving at his destination, and drinking wine with colleagues.

There is an extraordinary history between journey and wine and Scienza referenced Ulysses and his journey home from Troy. His story reflected his ability to navigate and became almost a "travel guide" for contemporary ancient sailors at the time, helping them to overcome their fear of travel into the unknown. Archeology also coincides with the story of Ulysses. Skyphos eubeo – a special vessel for drinking and storing wine — have been found along the route of Ulysses' journey, confirming his travels and the place of wine on his route. He also encounters challenges from giants, mermaids, pigs, but the main point here is that each stop along his path is noted for its wines, all of which have been documented in classical literature.

THE HERO

Using the concept of "the hero" as the central figure in these journeys, Scienza reminds us that many modern heroes also tell wine stories through their journeys. James Bond mirrors Ulysses as he travels to exotic locations, encounters mysterious women, enjoys good quality wines along the way and uses them for seduction and protection, as Ulysses used wine to intoxicate the giant Polyphemus and make his escape. Heroes act as protagonists who tell the story of difficulties, problem solving, and the ultimate winning of the battle. Wines and grapes are the heroes of their own stories too, and Scienza tells us we can tell these wine stories to consumers by focusing on the central protagonists in our communication.

THE BORDER

Scienza describes borders as "fusion vs opposition". Borders can be the line between opposing places or a shared space where migration benefits all. In terms of wine, borders represent collaboration or conflict. Where the vine began, where it moved to, and where it ultimately found the best place to make the best wine. We now have genetic proof that traces the journey of vines and wines across borders over time. Italian words that refer to borders are interesting:

1. 'Confine' – confines things to one side or the other

2. 'Frontiera' – a confrontation zone

3. 'Limes' – a physical border, such as a mountain or a valley

Scienza says that new cultures and new viticulture were all born at borderlines in Italy. These wines maintained their originality but developed new characteristics as they crossed borders. There are also cultural borders in wine. Scienza pointed to various types of viticulture from north to south in Italy, including Trentino where we see the benefit of transport innovation over the centuries, alberello vines from Greece crossed paths with Etruscan tree trained vines in Campania, island viticulture developed terraces, volcanoes and earthquakes shifted soils and forced migration, and all of these things brought change to wine through travel. These differing cultivation techniques emerged in Italy to create a richly varied landscape of vines.

CULTURAL FRONTIERS

Hidden ethnic and culture frontiers still exist in Italy and many can be traced through vines and wines. In the Trentino Alto Adige region there are five valleys where the cultures have remained distinct, the frontiers were never crossed and grape varieties remain isolated. Campania experienced the meeting of the Greeks and Etruscans and we can still see who was where due to distinct styles of viticulture, despite their gradual integration over time. In other regions we see the "onotron" style blended with the Greek "karax" staked pole cultivation. From east to west we see a lack of crossing cultivation between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Adriatic Sea, due to the Apennine mountain range separating them. 

SIX KEY VARIETIES

Scienza named the six key grape varieties in Italy and explained that all of the 600+ grapes in the country derive directly from these six, which proves the journey and crossing of physical and cultural borders that took place over the centuries. The six grapes are: Sangiovese, Malvasia, Mantonico, Moscato, Garganega, Bombino. 

THE ANGUISH

Scienza laid out the three ages of "anguish" in human history:

1. The end of the Roman Empire – brought about the spread of Christianity and vine cultivation

2. "End of Times" – a prophecy around 1000 AD brought about the rise of monasteries, pilgrims, crusades, and poverty

3. The "Small Ice Age" – climate change that triggered invention and the rise of "brands" such as Malvasia in Venice and Vernaccia in Genova

How did the anguish associated with these eras affect wine? Scienza showed students the route of the Via Francigena pilgrimage, which connected Canterbury in England to France, to Italy, to Rome. Pilgrims took their wines and vines with them and left them along the way, while Christianity sheltered the poor and preserved viticulture. These human actions promoted an exchange of wine culture and resulted in new vineyards and wine styles evolving in new locations.

From 1350 - 1700 the world confronted a "small ice age" that forced people to find grapes that could resist the low temperatures and harsh conditions. This period of climate change triggered a wave of genetic activity that proved vines can thrive in different climatic conditions.

From 1500 to the Protestant Reformation more pilgrims made use of the Via Francigena and this period of fear and search for spiritual comfort gave way to the emergence of important viticultural areas along the road to Rome.

HISTORY IS CYCLICAL

Speaking about the beverage revolution of the fifteenth and sixteenth century, Scienza discussed the periods that brought about changes in human habits. At the end of the 30 Years War, in the 1600's, peace paved the way for new beverages to arrive in new locations, such as coffee, chocolate, tea, cognac, champagne and claret. All of these were considered alternatives to typical wines of the time. The rise of the bourgeoisie, much like the emergence of Gen Z now, brought a new hierarchy of quality and established denominations of origin designations as the consumers sought to understand what they were drinking. There was a birth of new wines like Furmint, Grenache, and Cabernet Franc, as well as a new set of wine territories distinguished between Atlantic and Mediterranean. The decline of Venice allowed the development of new wines and fortified wines. Phylloxera destroyed vineyards across Europe and forced new planting and new vineyards. Scienza used these examples to demonstrate that many of the challenges faced by the wine sector today are similar to challenges of the past. Communication can confront all these challenges and storytelling can be used to promote and protect wine.

FINAL MESSAGE

"There is space for everyone, even for storytellers, as long as the stories are not fairy tales but true stories that communicate real wine culture". – Attilio Scienza