Dear friends,

Beaune to Barolo – BTOB – organised by Berry Bros&Rudd

My name is Mario Fontana, a winemaker in Barolo on my family farm Cascina Fontana. Thank you for your interest in Beaune to Barolo, an activity that for me is of great importance, value, and deep personal meaning. Berry Bros & Rudd (BBR) is the oldest wine merchant in London and has been trading since 1698. It is a great source of satisfaction to me that we have had a wonderful and constructive business relationship over the past many years. I am proud to have my wines represented by such an outstanding and longstanding company, and I am also proud to be part of Beaune to Barolo.

Beaune to Barolo (BTOB) is a challenging 600km cycle from Beane, the capital of Burgundy wine, to Barolo, one of the great wines and wine towns of Italy. BTOB is being organised by Berry Bros & Rudd in collaboration with the Giovanni Rosso winery in Serralunga d’Alba and it is all in support of our dear friend and colleague, Davy Zyw, who is a BBR buyer, and who was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease (MND) in 2018. Davy is an incredible fighter and coping as well as he can with this terrible disease. In fact, he has already defied the odds, surviving far past the two-year average life expectancy, and he has raised considerable vital funds as well as awareness through extraordinary physical feats that would challenge even the fully able. Davy is a great athlete, and, most of all, he’s a great person. In spite of the considerable physical challenges that he faces every day, he is determined to complete the ride alongside all of us on his own bicycle. I don’t pretend that either Luisa or I could do this whole ride ourselves so Davy’s determination is even more impressive. However, we will endeavour to ride those sections that we can, and we are proud to be able to provide support for the cyclists from our VW campervan which will accompany the route in its entirety.

BTOB will take place in September 2025. Berry Bros & Rudd and Giovanni Rosso have already raised over £600,000 for MND and we share their ambition to bring the total to £1 million to help to find a cure for this deadly degenerative disease. I am therefore asking you for your support. Here is our JustGiving link and we would be most grateful for any donation that you are able to make. Your support means the world to me and Luisa.

https://www.justgiving.com/page/mario-fontana-1

Un abbraccio,

Mario and Luisa Fontana