After fifty years of collaboration between the Paltrinieri family and the Morandi family, a special cuvée was created, a bottle-fermented Lambrusco in a limited edition to celebrate a long history of esteem and friendship that has spanned five decades. The presentation will take place at an exclusive press preview at Hosteria Giusti in Modena, on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, at 11:30 AM.
After working for Giuseppe Giusti since the age of sixteen and learning the secrets of the cured meat art, in '80 Adriano Morandi, known as Nano, took over the namesake delicatessen, a historic establishment opened and managed by the Giusti family since 1605. It was in those years that his friendship with Gianfranco Paltrinieri, owner of the farm that bears his name in the Cristo di Sorbara area, began. These were intense and fruitful years in which the collaboration between the two families solidified. While Cantina Paltrinieri distinguished itself as one of the protagonists in the rebirth of Lambrusco, the fame of Salumeria Giusti, the oldest in Europe, grew in parallel. Thanks to Nano Morandi and his wife Laura, it re-established itself as a gourmet destination and, in '89, expanded its offerings by creating Hosteria Giusti. The room that previously housed the curing of cold cuts, adjacent to the shop, became a welcoming dining room with only four tables, a few steps from the Bottiglieria, where great bottles from the most important regions of the world rested. It was an offering that skillfully and competently blended the best wines and Laura's refined cuisine, iconic dishes of the Modenese tradition, to which Nano would often pair Paltrinieri's 'white label' Lambrusco, a pure Sorbara with a strong identity, now renamed 'Radice', among the most faithful to the Sorbara style, which Nano immediately chose as his reference Lambrusco, later customizing the label. Half a century of collaboration that the two families decided to seal with a special cuvée conceived for the occasion together with enologist Attilio Pagli, after long tastings with Alberto Paltrinieri and Matteo Morandi. "My wife Barbara, while tidying a drawer, found some old labels from Bottiglieria Giusti. They were the ones that went on the Lambrusco bottles we supplied to the Morandi family between the '80s and '90s, an extremely simple but very elegant design that is still relevant today, chosen by Nano" – says Alberto Paltrinieri – "I spoke about it with Matteo, and the idea came up to make a celebratory bottle by updating the old label, to highlight that special relationship that had arisen between our two families." "From the very beginning, my father chose Paltrinieri" – recalls Matteo Morandi, Nano's son – "after finding the label in the Paltrinieri archive, I felt a certain emotion. It was a project to enhance Sorbara, the Giusti brand, and our territory, which my father cared deeply about, and which I saw being born. It brings me back to the friendship that has linked our two families for three generations, to the esteem that linked my father to Gianfranco, Alberto's father, and now links me and Alberto, and also our children." The years pass, but memories remain, and one cannot help but think of Nano Morandi and Gianfranco Paltrinieri, who are no longer with us, and with their dedication and sacrifice contributed to the growth of two successful businesses. "Gianfranco Paltrinieri was not a simple supplier" – Matteo Morandi continues – "a special relationship had developed between him and my father. Gianfranco greatly valued his opinion, and when the new Lambrusco was ready, he would come to let us taste it; it was important to him. The first time I shook his hand, I felt like I was touching a piece of vineyard; he was a simple, humble, authentic person. Knowing him, you understood how much passion he put into his work, and despite being very good at making Lambrusco, he always sought feedback and knew he would find it in my father. The special cuvée with which we remember Gianfranco and Nano is a completely different Lambrusco from what was made at the time; it is a new opportunity to enhance the iconic Modenese sparkling wine." Gianfranco and Nano, two important figures who, with their 'know-how,' contributed to the success of Modena and its best artisanal products: "Nano was a person who made you feel at ease and had remarkable expertise – says Alberto Paltrinieri – we always felt honored to supply him with our Lambrusco. The best of Modena and beyond passed through there; it wasn't like going to any other delicatessen, Giusti was Giusti. Nano was a person who, if he had something to tell you, would say it very clearly, very calmly, but he was always with you, never against you; I learned a lot from him." And here is the bottle-fermented Lambrusco cuvée, conceived for the fifty years of the partnership, a limited edition of only 1000 bottles and 100 magnums, which will be presented on November 3rd. Three pure Sorbaras from three different vintages: 45% Leclisse (100% Sorbara); 45% Piria (classic Sorbara with a small part of Salamino); 10% Grosso – classic method 2017, which rests for a year in a wooden tonneau and is used for topping up, regenerating it periodically, while the bottle will be a champagnotta with a crown cap dressed with a restyling of the old label and the Morandi and Paltrinieri logos.
“When I finished my studies, my father asked me what I wanted to do in life. My answer was that I wanted to keep alive the tradition of the work that my grandfather Achille had started in 1926 and that he and my mother had managed for 40 years. In 1998, with my wife Barbara, I began to directly run the winery, betting on the production of the first pure Sorbara. Since then, I cultivate and vinify 17 hectares of vineyard in the historic area of Cristo di Sorbara, the narrowest strip of land between the Secchia and Panaro, the two rivers that embrace the province of Modena.”
Alberto Paltrinieri
www.cantinapaltrinieri.it
“Food is a moment of relaxation, and it is our task to convey this pleasure, a philosophy that has been taught to us and that we try to put into practice every day through attentive service, in a constructive dialogue with our guests, explaining the reasons for our choices and what lies behind each individual product. The pursuit of excellence for over 410 years has always distinguished Salumeria Giusti, and when it was our turn to take the baton, we knew that was the path to follow, and that is what we do every day with all the passion possible.”
Matteo Morandi
www.hosteriagiusti.it
Press release by Luca Bonacini
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