SARTORI DI VERONA REINVENTS ITSELF AS IT SEEKS TO EXPAND ITS PRESENCE IN THE U.S.
by: Lars Leicht
Catching up with my old friend Andrea Sartoriin Verona on a brisk, sunny November day, I ended up with an earworm in the form of Chris Stapleton’s hit song, “Starting Over.”
This might not be an easy time
There’s rivers to cross and hills to climb
Starting over is exactly what Andrea, the fourth-generation family proprietor of the Sartori di Verona winery, is doing in the U.S. market. Though he had been making annual visits to build his brand stateside since 1980, his longtime importer abruptly ended their 50-plus-year relationship in 2019. Andrea managed to sign a contract with Shaw-Ross International Importers in under a year, but just before the scheduled brand relaunch, the pandemic and subsequent international lockdown hit. Talk about rivers to cross and hills to climb. “I call it the perfect storm,” said Andrea. “It is enough of a challenge to change importers under normal circumstances, but imagine when you throw in COVID!”
And some days we might fall apart
And some nights might feel cold and dark
Andrea estimates that because of the new wholesale alignments, he had to switch about 60% of his distributors; luckily, that wasn’t the case in the West, where he was already represented by Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, one of the nation’s preeminent distributors of beverage alcohol. Now he is quite happy with the new situation. “The future of the market will continue to be challenging and not easy to manage,” he told me, “but if you have the fortune to be with a powerhouse like Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, you’ll manage to get ahead. It comforts us to have the most important U.S. distributor behind our brand.”
Let’s take our chances and roll the dice
Andrea’s market focus remains fixed on on-premise channels, specifically the fine-dining segment. While his winery is equipped to satisfy the demands of large retail distribution, he sees little promise in it. On a recent visit to California, Texas, and Florida—his first in several years—what he saw in so-called big-box stores confirmed that hypothesis. “The Italian sections have less space than ever,” he noted, “and it’s commoditized. There are three Pinot Grigios, four Proseccos, and some Chianti, and price matters more than producer. Certain brands thrive, but you can count them on one hand.”
On the bright side, he sees restaurant wine lists growing in quality, and he is responding by trimming his portfolio and emphasizing the premium wines within it. With his former importer, he was required to accept label modifications that meant his packaging for the U.S. market differed from that for Italy and other export markets; now the Sartori look is uniform everywhere. “That was the first thing we did,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense that what Americans would see is different than in the rest of the world.”
What was previously known in the U.S. simply as Sartori Amarone della Valpolicella Classico is now labeled Reius Amarone della Valpolicella Classico; Sartori’s Garganega, for which the fruit is slightly dried via the appassimento process, was formerly known to Americans as Ferdi but now bears its original name, Marani; the Sartori Valpolicella Classico is now a single-vineyard wine identified as Montegradella; and the Veronese IGT Regolo is now designated a Ripasso.
But nobody wins afraid of losing
And the hard roads are the ones worth choosing
Ripasso is essentially a young Valpolicella that is repassed over the pressings of Amarone to yield a medium-bodied wine that is fuller than a Valpolicella but less complex than an Amarone. It is a big seller in Canada and northern Europe in particular but underappreciated in the U.S., where Andrea nonetheless firmly believes that there is a great future for it.
He sees another opportunity for growth with Soave as he prepares to introduce his single-vineyard Sella Soave Classico to the U.S. market. “I truly believe that Soave has a significant opportunity in the U.S.,” he declared. “I don’t want to say it will be the next Pinot Grigio, but it has all the characteristics to be the next great white wine of the market.” Though he admits that, a few decades ago, it was seen as a commercial wine, it’s his view that “we have to completely rebuild the market for Soave; premium examples of it are doing well in some markets, which tells us that it is the route to follow in the U.S. We have to offer Soave to a new generation starting from zero, not based on memories of what it was but what it is today. The Soave of today has nothing to do with the Soave of yesterday.”
I can be your lucky penny
You can be my four-leaf clover
To help strengthen his position in the U.S., Andrea hired industry veteran Salvatore Napolitano as the winery’s boots-on-the-ground representative. Napolitano started in September 2023 “to do in the U.S. the work we do in Italy every day when I can’t be present there,” in Andrea’s words, which includes championing the wines among trade and consumers; training wholesale, retail, and restaurant teams; and simply maintaining a presence that personifies the brand. “He knows the market and the right people,” Andrea asserted. Napolitano’s priority will be New York, where he has already had notable success, but he will also travel to such key states as Texas, California, and Florida.
Home at the winery, Andrea has also made some changes, namely to his hospitality offerings. He recently completed a renovation of the 17th-century Villa Maria, formerly the family home where he grew up, which has been converted into an events center. He also refurbished the gate house at the entrance to the property to serve as a wine shop and launch point for estate tours, which feature tastings paired with foods such as chocolate-covered figs and various breads and cheeses.
Yet some things haven’t changed. Renowned consulting winemaker Franco Bernabei continues to give input to the winemaking team, including 23-year veteran Marco Delleva and his understudy, Luca Bonetti, who joined Sartori in 2019. And the Colognola grape-farming cooperative that gives Sartori control of production literally from the ground up remains part of the board of directors.
The quality of Sartori wines is another constant (see page 7 for my tasting notes). I’ve known Andrea and his wines for 36 years, working for much of that time for his aforementioned previous importer. In fact, my analogy of a country song for this chapter of his story seems appropriate as we’ve hung out together in many honky-tonks over the years as well as in more refined establishments. I have brought hundreds of sommeliers to visit his property, and their consistent response is that he represents a great story supported by wines of impeccable character, typicity, and integrity.
The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche famously said, “Out of life’s school of war—what doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger,” and despite a challenging restart, it is clear to me now that Sartori has emerged stronger and will continue to grow. When our recent conversation touched on mutual experiences in the U.S. market, I ironically asked Andrea if he had seen some changes in the market since 1980. “Enough,” he replied, followed by a chuckle and an expletive.
Some day we’ll look back and smile
And know it was worth every mile
SHAW-ROSS INTERNATIONAL IMPORTERS
