The company was established on the hills of Castel San Pietro Terme in 1964 and is now the expression of the region’s excellence. Today, Umberto Cesari exports wine to 60 countries worldwide, half of which to North America. But this history also features a bank vault, employed in an alternative way. For FARE INSIEME Giampaolo Colletti interviews Gianmaria Cesari, CEO of the Umberto Cesari.
di Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Photocredit: Giacomo Maestri e Francesca Aufiero
“If something bad happens you drink in an attempt to forget; if something good happens you drink in order to celebrate; and if nothing happens you drink to make something happen.” This is what Charles Bukowski wrote just over fifty years ago, more or less when Umberto Cesari was set up. To tell the story of a great wine-making business established in the second post-war period, we need to start from the winding hills of Castel San Pietro Terme, a town of twenty thousand inhabitants in the Bologna metropolitan area stretching towards Romagna. Because Umberto Cesari’s healthy obsession was always that of growing high-quality Sangiovese. He undertook this mission before others did. A vision that led him to being among the first to believe in the potential of wines from Emilia-Romagna. Therefore, in the early 1960s, Umberto Cesari founded the company that still bears his name and dedicated all his effort to promoting local grapes. He was actually the first private producer of the region and he managed to combine the high-quality of its products with international distribution. The company is still located in those hills, between the headquarters and the newly-restored production facility. A lot of ground was covered: today, Umberto Cesari boasts around fifty employees and distributes its products among 60 markets, 60% of which destined to North America, followed by Europe. “The main factors that sets all the people within the company apart are their dedication and sense of belonging, together with respect for each other and for the rules. In addition to the effort we put in and will put into respecting the values of sustainability and innovation in all phases of our work, we decided to subscribe to an internal Code of Ethics. An essential document for us when it comes to ethics, organization and management choices,” explains Gianmaria Cesari, CEO at Umberto Cesari and the third generation running the family business.
Story of a vision. To understand the DNA of this business, we must take a step back in time. Indeed, more than one. “My grandfather Ilario Cesari, a histrionic worker, sold wine in bulk during the postwar period and was known as the one who used to collect wine from the bank. Let me explain why. At that time, in our area, a territory that was struggling to recover from the war, people did not want to give up on a product such as wine, which was a central element of their culture. The brilliant intuition was a combination of coincidences, as my grandfather decided to store the wine to be sold in bulk in an environment with an ideal humidity and temperature. In the part next to where he was keeping his accounts, there used to be a bombed out bank with the vault still intact. So he decided to put the demijohns there since it enabled ideal storing conditions,” recalls Gianmaria Cesari. To tell this story, we need to move from the hills to the centre of Bologna, almost beneath the Two Towers. Because, in the Via d’Azeglio which still leads to the hilly area and, more precisely in Via Carbonesi, Ilario Cesari inaugurated one of the first osterias which, at the time, were very popular places: there, the union of good wine and good food turned that gathering place into a much appreciated area. “My father Umberto grew up with the aroma of wine around him, he became passionate about the raw material and helped my grandfather for a while. He then decided to focus on evolving the sales of wine in bulk and purchased the first vineyard: this is where Umberto Cesari started. Both my grandfather Ilario and my father Umberto were visionaries in a country that was slowly trying to leave the economic collapse behind them. Our company is one that was born - like many others in our sector - out of passion, the most important element in our work,” stresses Gianmaria Cesari.
The winning formula of research. The focus was always placed on local grapes, with international varieties added over time. For Umberto Cesari, innovative technologies are fundamental and professional skills go hand in hand with them. “The search for the full expression of the territory passes through experience, supported by the constant application of the most modern technologies only where and when needed. Technology always at the service of only quality,” says Cesari. The state-of-the-art laboratory helps being independent when it comes to all the phases of the production process: from grape analyses to the finished product, enabling the saving of time and money. All the analyses and checks that help guarantee the perfect quality of our wines are carried out every day. The keywords are respect and high-quality. “Respect for the environment and people to promote the territory and those who work there. Innovation is always at the service of product quality and workers and our gaze is turned towards the future, while respecting tradition and our identity. Today, 30% of our vineyards is organic,” stresses Cesari. Over the years, the company has continued to invest 10% of the turnover in improving and updating all the tools that help achieve punctuality in the vineyard and in the cellar. For example, now there are detection probes to monitor drought. But, for Gianmaria Cesari, the most important element in the next ten years will be linked to territorial marketing. “We continue to promote our wines, reminding people that Emilia-Romagna is the best-kept secret in Italy. Unlike other regions, we have capable winemakers, extraordinary soil and an ideal microclimate. We just need to promote the territory.”
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