Pardi Sagrantino di Montefalco 2010

Our story begins in 1919 when the brothers Alfredo (1880-1953), Francesco (1882- 1965) and Alberto Pardi (1889-1943) establish the Cantina Fratelli Pardi (The Pardi Brothers’ Winery), that was located on the ground floor of the Saint Marcus Hospital, that belonged to the stately building of Saint Francis in Montefalco. In those times the grapes used for the production partly belonged to the family and mostly were bought from the local landowners. Both white and red wines were produced and marketed, but even then the Sagrantino, that was exclusively Passito , was very important. The wines were sold all over Umbria ,and sometimes also out of the region, to important customers, such as the Vatican.

In 1925 at the exhibition of Oils and Wines from Umbria and Sabina in the Town Hall in Montefalco, the Pardi Brothers were awarded the silver medal for the table red wines by the Minister of National Economy. Alberto, who was responsible for marketing, dies in 1943 and his brothers are elderly. (“La cantina dei Fratelli Pardi” in Gambacurta Luigi –Montefalco 1800-1900- Persone, cose e momenti del nostro vivere quotidiano-Montefalco 2005). In the following years the founders’ sons decide to enter upon a new business : they close down the winery and in 1949 establish the weaving mill Tessitura Pardi s.r.l.

The tradition and the competence of wine-growing are handed down by Rio Pardi (1914-1991): after his father Alberto’s death he keeps up producing small quantities of Sagrantino Passito on the ground floor of his house in Via Mazzini in Montefalco. The Sagrantino Passito is mostly used as a gift for friends and partly is sold in his own grocery.

In 1990 Alberto and Agostino Pardi, the managers of the Tessitura Pardi, for lack of space, decide to move the weaving mill from the initial building in Montefalco in Via Giovanni Pascoli to the new works in the industrial area in Giano dell’Umbria. In 2002 Francesco, Gianluca Rio and Alberto Mario, driven by the will of the Pardi family to keep on the tradition, and with the help of their parents Agostino and Alberto, restore the building in Via Giovanni Pascoli and revive their great-grandfathers’winery. Today the same way of thinking and commitment of the family are handed down by the new generations with enthusiasm.