VINO SORELLI S.P.A. Via Fiorentina, 42 FIGLINE VALDARNO (FI) Tel. 055.958359 - Fax 055.958148 - Cod Fisc e P. Iva 00253290480 [email protected] - www.vinosorelli.com The commercial business of Vino Sorelli dates back to the early 1900s, when great-grandfather Arnolfo, originally a farming “broker” started to specialize in the distribution of wine, involving one of his 15 sons, Gesualdo, in the business. The Sorelli family’s interest and know-how in the wine world has always been passed down from one generation to the next, along with the property. The family built strong ties with the farmers and local producers right from the start. The wine was collected directly from the farmers and delivered to the consumers using the characteristic blown-glass demijohns; containers made of blown glass and covered in woven wood with side handles for transportation. The demijohns varied in size from 5 litres to 54 litres and were produced in the local town’s glassworks. The demijohns were delivered on “barrocci”, old carts that were originally drawn by oxen and later replaced by combustion engines Considering the state of the roads in the first part of the last century, the loading of the “barroccio” and the safe transportation of its delicate cargo was a veritable balancing act. Gesualdo subsequently set up the first hand-bottling cellar and began the direct sale of Chianti wine, in the other typically symbolic Tuscan container, “il fiasco” - the flask. This was also made in the local glassworks in varying sizes, the most common being 0.75 litres and 2 litres. Some say the origin of the flask was purely by chance when a malformation occurred during glass-blowing, the glass-blower blew harder forming the characteristic bowl-shape. This gives rise to the international expression “a fiasco”, meaning a mistake. Having no base to stand on, a special weaving technique was developed to provide a base for the flask; a job usually carried out by women called “fiascaie” – flask-makers who were able to cover 40/50 flasks a day weaving the dried blades of a wild grass growing in the local area.
Transcript
VINO SORELLI S.P.A. Via Fiorentina, 42 FIGLINE VALDARNO (FI)
Tel. 055.958359 - Fax 055.958148 - Cod Fisc e P. Iva 00253290480 [email protected] - www.vinosorelli.com
The commercial business of Vino Sorelli dates back to the early
1900s, when great-grandfather Arnolfo,
originally a farming “broker” started to specialize in the distribution
of wine, involving one of his 15 sons, Gesualdo, in the business. The
Sorelli family’s interest and know-how in the wine world has always
been passed down from one generation to the next, along with the
property. The family built strong ties with the farmers and local
producers right from the start. The wine was collected directly from
the farmers and delivered to the consumers using the characteristic
blown-glass demijohns; containers made of blown glass and covered
in woven wood with side handles for transportation.
The demijohns varied in size from 5 litres to 54 litres and were produced in the local town’s
glassworks. The demijohns were delivered on “barrocci”, old carts that were originally drawn by
oxen and later replaced by combustion engines
Considering the state of the roads in the first part of the last century, the loading of the “barroccio”
and the safe transportation of its delicate cargo was a veritable balancing act.
Gesualdo subsequently set up the first hand-bottling cellar and began the direct sale of Chianti wine,
in the other typically symbolic Tuscan container, “il fiasco” - the flask. This was also made in the
local glassworks in varying sizes, the most common being 0.75 litres and 2 litres. Some say the
origin of the flask was purely by chance when a malformation occurred during glass-blowing, the
glass-blower blew harder forming the characteristic bowl-shape. This gives rise to the international
expression “a fiasco”, meaning a mistake.
Having no base to stand on, a special weaving technique was developed to provide a base for the
flask; a job usually carried out by women called “fiascaie” – flask-makers who were able to cover
40/50 flasks a day weaving the dried blades of a wild grass growing in the local area.
VINO SORELLI S.P.A. Via Fiorentina, 42 FIGLINE VALDARNO (FI)
Tel. 055.958359 - Fax 055.958148 - Cod Fisc e P. Iva 00253290480 [email protected] - www.vinosorelli.com
Almost from the beginning goods transportation was developed so that the first company vehicles
could deliver to the major Italian and European cities.
Roberto and Libero Gesualdo’s sons, threw themselves into the family business with enthusiasm.
Roberto’s clever intuition made him turn his attention to large-scale distribution as far back as the
1960s. This was a great advantage as the company was able to organize its services early on for
large-scale distribution, thus becoming a historic partner of the most important national and
international distribution wholesale platforms operating in the Italian domestic market. For years,
groups such as Coop, Ipercoop, Carrefour, Pam, Sma, GS, Despar, Metro have been displaying both
the company brands as well as their own brand labels made expressly for them.
It became apparent early on that it was important for the company to have its own production, so in
order to consolidate its position, the company invested in cellars and approx. 300 hectares of
vineyards mainly in Orcia, Chianti and Chianti Classico.
VINO SORELLI S.P.A. Via Fiorentina, 42 FIGLINE VALDARNO (FI)
Tel. 055.958359 - Fax 055.958148 - Cod Fisc e P. Iva 00253290480 [email protected] - www.vinosorelli.com
As a consequence the cellar obtained more storage space and continuously improved and updated
the bottling process leading to the current production potential of approx. 10,000 pieces/hour.
Although there has been a certain generalised reduction in consumption recently, the company has
established its presence on the market with 5/6 million bottled pieces a year. New cellars and
vineyards in other beautiful parts of Tuscany have been acquired such as: Greve in Chianti (FI),
Trequanda (SI), Terranova Bracciolini (AR), and Rignano sull’Arno (FI). Sorelli is by now an
industrial group with an average capacity of approx 100,000 HL bottled in several million pieces
ranging from the small 0.187 lt bottle to the typical 2 lt Tuscan flask.
The company’s viticultural selection has been further enriched by the purchase of historic vineyards
in the early 1990s. Such pearls as the The vineyards of Castello Uzzano located in Greve, the heart
and capital of Chianti Classico, Fattoria Petriolo which has been producing wine since the 19th
century and which previously belonged to the religious institute of Saint Francis of Sales and finally
Azienda Agricola Belsedere, a splendid property set in the Orcia production area (a recently
introduced Doc) that produced its first vintage in 2006 from its 15 hectares of recently planted
vineyards.
All of these features enable the company to offer its products to a wide range of clients. The group
can easily deal with any distribution platform; from the large chains to the small and delicate retail
circuits, Ho.Re.Ca., restaurants and vintage wine bars.
In addition to its own production, the company can boast the most famous Tuscan denominations
such as: Nobile di Montepulciano, Brunello di Montalcino, Morellino di Scansano, Vernaccia di S.
Gimignano and Vinsanto. Moreover, thanks to its collaboration with direct producers over the
decades, the company has also permanently introduced Montepulciano and Trebbiano d’Abruzzo,
Orvieto and recently even Nero d’Avola to its range of products.
The strong historic ties that the company has established with hundreds of local producers are a
unique characteristic which is appreciated and sought after also by other cellars.
VINO SORELLI S.P.A. Via Fiorentina, 42 FIGLINE VALDARNO (FI)
Tel. 055.958359 - Fax 055.958148 - Cod Fisc e P. Iva 00253290480 [email protected] - www.vinosorelli.com
Hundreds of small farms entrust their annual production to Vino Sorelli which can be considered an
excellent intermediary between the small producers and the large national bottling companies.
Notwithstanding its strong presence on the domestic market (70% of the Sorelli Group’s annual
revenue is from the domestic market), the company now exports to all the major foreign markets,
but Russia, China and the United States must be considered the main markets of definite interest.
To date the Sorelli company is a point of reference for every kind of product in the wine-growing
and producing sector, both for its production capacity and quality/price ratio. This is in fact thanks
to its deep rooted and direct presence in all the areas of production of the most important Tuscan
