Sartarelli's white wines are made from a single grape variety, Verdicchio, which is native to the Italian region of Marche. The winery's Tralivio was chosen to represent Italy at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The wine and the glass bottle from Vetropack combine tradition and attention to detail.
Since 1972, the Sartarelli winery has always favoured the Verdicchio grape variety, which has been cultivated in the sun-drenched centre of Italy since ancient times. With an unshakeable belief in „his“ grape, company founder Ferruccio Sartarelli, together with his great love Matilde, developed it into quality wines that win awards every year - both in Italy and beyond. The crowning glory is now the journey of the Tralivio (one of ten selected white wines) as a Representative of Italy to Paris.
Awards on the assembly line
Sartarelli is a genuine family business, run by the second and third generation. „Team spirit and passion for the product are crucial for us,“ emphasises Patrizio Chiacchiarini, the son-in-law of the company founder. „Together, we cultivate 55 hectares of vineyards.“ The Verdicchio grape ripens in late summer and is not harvested mechanically, but read by hand becomes. In 1999, Sartarelli's Balciana was honoured as the best white wine in Italy and the best white wine in the world - and the success stories and awards continue unabated, whether at the International Wine Challenge, Decanter World Wine Awards, Mundus Vini or Italian competitions: The Sartarelli varieties are consistently among the best and also honoured in the US magazine „Vinous“. And now it is even travelling to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, making the wine an „Olympic Wine“ with immediate effect.
Patrizio Chiacchiarini and his wife Donatella Sartarelli are the second generation to run the winery, which was founded in 1972.
(Image: Sartarelli)
The exclusive glass packaging from Vetropack has been used by Sartarelli for almost 20 years and goes back to ideas from Patrizio Chiacchiarini himself. Today, it is used exclusively for the Sartarelli Classico, Tralivio and Balciana varieties and, since 2022, also for Milletta. This special wine, which is aged for almost two years, was created to celebrate the winery's 50th anniversary and is named after Matilde Sartarelli's affectionate nickname.
Distinctive packaging
The bottle was actually produced by Vetropack for Sartarelli in its first form 20 years ago, but has been improved again and again over the years. „I wanted a different structure for the bottle, among other things to better enclose the cork and thus improve the closure quality. That's why we changed the Shoulder of the bottle slimmed down and the sides slightly softer“, Chiacchiarini explains the development of the bottle. The latest change to the bottle is in the labelling area of the bottle body, which is now exactly cylindrical. This has the advantage that the Labels easier to apply and are shown to better advantage.
Last but not least, a Customised embossing, The curved Sartarelli S, the individuality of Vetropack's glass packaging. Vetropack designed the embossing on the neck of the bottle in 2006, a few years after the first Sartarelli wine was filled into the Swiss company's bottles, and the recognition value is effective. „The bottle is appreciated and popular, it is perceived as one of our trademarks and is very important for us to stand out from the large number of suppliers, especially in Italy,“ emphasises Chiacchiarini.
In total, the winery delivers around 150,000 bottles per year, and Vetropack contributes to its success. The export share is over 60 per cent. The company traditionally has a strong presence in the USA and Japan, as well as in Scandinavia, particularly Norway.
In the spirit of the founder, the passion for viticulture is still open to new ideas today. „When we started planting double rows in the 1980s and tying them up with wire so that they could grow flexibly and bear fruit, everyone thought we were crazy,“ explains Chiacchiarini. „But in the end, it caught on - just like the individual design of the glass packagingg, which we have adapted and improved step by step with the support of Vetropack.“ An additional accent is also set by the dark colour of the bottle, which also serves as UV protection for the wine. serves.
Innovation and sustainability in harmony
Both Sartarelli and Vetropack pay great attention to the issue of sustainability. The winery recently decided to expand its photovoltaic system from 23 to 61 kW capacity. Those responsible are also focussing on Completely chemical-free products. Glass as a packaging material fits in perfectly with this. As a company, Vetropack also pursues ambitious sustainability goals with regard to energy and water consumption, recycling, supply chains and the reduction of CO2-emissions. As an inert material, glass ensures the purity and quality of Sartarelli's exclusive wines, and the unique design of the glass packaging further emphasises this exclusivity.
Caterina and Tommaso, the children of Patrizio Chiacchiarini and Donatella Sartarelli, the founder's daughter, are now also part of the family business: while Tommaso is responsible for the high quality of the wine as an oenologist, Caterina is responsible for the export business. „As far as export markets are concerned, we want to diversify more in future: France offers us plenty of opportunities, which we will now gradually tap into, and Lithuania is an important key market for Eastern Europe. With its international focus, Vetropack is the ideal partner for us and we would be delighted to deepen our collaboration further, for example in the areas of small and special series and sustainability.“
