Fine wine has become one of the luxury economy’s most durable corners. In 2024, the global fine wine market was worth roughly €30 billion and, with fine dining, anchored a €58 billion sector inside the €1.48 trillion luxury market. Bain projects that figure will reach €35-40 billion by 2030.
As négociant groups and conglomerates absorb storied estates into ever-larger holding structures, the independent house with a single cellar and philosophy has become the exception. Against that current, a different kind of portfolio has taken shape across Piedmont, Monaco, Burgundy and the New World: smaller, slower and built one house at a time, each keeping its own name and identity. The figure behind it is Evgeny Strzhalkovskiy, a Monaco-based entrepreneur, whose Piedmont winery Scarpa anchors a group of wine, spirits and hospitality brands spanning four countries.
Who is Evgeny Strzhalkovskiy?
Evgeny Strzhalkovskiy is a Monaco-based winemaker who has spent the past 10 years building an independent fine wine portfolio. It began with a trip to Piedmont in 2016 and the acquisition of Antica Casa Vinicola Scarpa, the 1900-founded house in Nizza Monferrato known simply as Scarpa, the following year.
“After two decades in investment, wine was the chance to devote myself to something I truly loved,” he says. “Scarpa already had more than a century of heritage. My job was to look after it, not reinvent it.”
What does Evgeny Strzhalkovskiy own?
Scarpa and its hospitality arms, Scarpa Villas and Scarpa Experiences, comprise the centre of Strzhalkovskiy’s portfolio, but his interests extend beyond Piedmont to Trinity Monaco and Monte Carlo Vermouth in Monaco and Fincher & Co. in New Zealand. Monte Carlo Vermouth and Fincher & Co. are held under Maison Eugène René, the French company he founded in 2021 to develop wine and spirit brands of his own. In November 2025, he added ERA Winegrape Tradition, a Monaco-based charitable association.
“Every brand keeps its own name, its own heritage and its own identity,” he says. “What runs through all of them is innovative thinking and heritage balanced with refined craftsmanship.”
What is the strategy behind Scarpa’s growth?
Strzhalkovskiy’s approach has been to grow Scarpa’s reach without losing the discipline that defines it. That balance shows in revenue that has risen from €800,000 in 2016 to a projected €4 million in 2026. The growth rests on the winery’s vineyard holdings, among them the Monvigliero cru in Verduno, Roncaglie in La Morra and Canova in Neive, and on La Bogliona, its flagship single-vineyard Barbera.
The method has not changed under his ownership: indigenous-yeast fermentation, long ageing in large old Slavonian and Allier oak botti, late releases and strict allocation discipline. Wine remains the heart of the business, with four villas in the Langhe’s UNESCO-listed Monvigliero vineyards and Scarpa Experiences, a programme run from the original 1900 cellars to open up the historic heart and beauty of the region and its wine.
Why expand beyond Piedmont?
For Strzhalkovskiy, expanding beyond Piedmont was a way to prove that the standards behind a serious Barolo could travel to other categories, countries and kinds of hospitality. The clearest case was Monte Carlo Vermouth, launched in 2021. It draws on three terroirs: the Piedmont vineyards that supply a Moscato d’Asti base from whole grapes, the perfumers of Grasse who blend its botanicals, and Monaco itself, which contributes hand-picked rose petals from the Roseraie. It carries the “Monte-Carlo” name under licence from State Brands of Monaco, and has taken gold at the London Spirits Competition, the IWSC and the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles.
At Trinity Monaco, the dual venue on Rue du Portier where a mountainside Irish bar and a seaside cocktail room work as one address, provenance and craft matter as much behind the bar as behind the wine. The drinks list sources directly from the group’s own producers, making the venue as much a showcase as a bar. Scarpa pours by the glass, Monte Carlo Vermouth anchors the cocktail menu.
In New Zealand it comes full circle, back to wine but with the same level of devotion Fincher & Co. drew 95 points from Decanter for its 2021 Awatere Valley Sauvignon Blanc, made from single sites in Marlborough and Central Otago.
Keeping the traditions alive
Evgeny Strzhalkovskiy’s commitment to wine and its traditions reaches beyond the brands he owns. In November 2025, he established ERA Winegrape Tradition, a Monaco-based charitable association that brings scientists, cooperatives and financial partners together to help small, independent growers adopt climate-resilient practices. The focus begins in France and Italy, where traditional winegrowing faces the sharpest pressure from a shifting climate. The association will mark its first anniversary in November 2026.
“I have seen the pressures independent growers face, from climate disruption to the cost of the changes they need to make,” Strzhalkovskiy says. “ERA brings the science, the cooperatives and the funding together to further support the independents in the field.”
What comes next?
The next chapter returns to the vineyard. Scarpa is preparing its first move into Tuscany with Poggio al Fiore, a boutique Montalcino label that will launch with two flagship releases.
“Montalcino is an important new chapter,” Strzhalkovskiy says, “and the clearest step yet in turning Scarpa into a true multi-region house.”
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