Italy · Lambrusco Country (Modena & surrounds)

Cleto Chiarli Società Agricola

Lambrusco estate in Modena province, founded in 1860, making estate-grown Grasparossa and Sorbara from the converted Villa Cialdini and VIVA-certified vineyards across three Modena sites.

The producer

Cleto Chiarli Società Agricola has made Lambrusco in Modena province since 1860, which puts it among the oldest wine companies in Emilia-Romagna still operating under its founding name. The estate's winemaking home is the converted Villa Cialdini manor, set inside the Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro DOC and ringed by more than 100 acres of Grasparossa vines and 17 acres of Grechetto Gentile. A second zone, di Sorbara, adds a lighter, more aromatic Lambrusco type to the range. All vineyards are certified under Italy's VIVA Sustainable Viticulture Program.

The fourth-generation cousins Mauro and Anselmo Chiarli run the estate. In 2002 they broke from volume production and built a dedicated artisanal facility at Cialdini to vinify estate-grown Lambrusco at a smaller, more controlled scale. The premium range covers both major Lambrusco sub-zones: Grasparossa, which is dark, firm, and tannic, and Sorbara, which is pale, aromatic, and high in acidity. Both are fermented by the Charmat tank method, a technique the Chiarli family helped bring to Lambrusco production roughly a century after the winery was founded.

Known for

Estate Lambrusco from Grasparossa di Castelvetro and di Sorbara, VIVA-certified sustainable viticulture across three Modena province vineyard sites.

Notable facts

The story

The Restaurateur's Decision

Cleto Chiarli was running the Osteria dell'Artigliere in central Modena in the mid-1800s when he noticed that his customers were returning as much for the Lambrusco he served as for the food on the table. He had been making the wine himself from local varieties, and by 1860 the demand was clear enough that he made a choice his family would build a business on: he registered a separate wine company rather than stay a restaurateur. The osteria closed as the wine operation grew. By 1910 the company was producing one million bottles. By 2019 it had passed twenty million. The man who left his own restaurant to follow the Lambrusco never saw any of that, but the company he registered in 1860 is still in the hands of his family, now in its fourth generation.

From the atlas

Cleto Chiarli Società Agricola

At A Glance

Producer: Cleto Chiarli Società Agricola Country: Italy Region: Emilia-Romagna Province: Modena Appellations: Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro DOC, Lambrusco di Sorbara DOC Grapes: Lambrusco Grasparossa, Lambrusco di Sorbara, Grechetto Gentile Estate home: Villa Cialdini, Castelvetro di Modena Founded: 1860 First bottle: Vigneto Cialdini, Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro DOC

The Producer

Cleto Chiarli Società Agricola makes Lambrusco from estate vineyards in Modena province and has done so, in one form or another, since 1860. That founding date makes it among the oldest wine companies in Emilia-Romagna. The estate's winemaking home is the converted Villa Cialdini manor, set inside the Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro DOC, ringed by more than 100 acres of Grasparossa vines and 17 acres of Grechetto Gentile. A second zone, di Sorbara, adds a lighter, more aromatic Lambrusco type to the range.

The fourth-generation cousins Mauro and Anselmo Chiarli run the business. In 2002 they made the decision that defines the estate's current operation: they broke from volume production and built a dedicated artisanal facility at Cialdini to grow and vinify estate Lambrusco at a smaller, more controlled scale. The premium range that came out of Cialdini is what the estate is now known for.

Place

Modena province sits at the centre of Emilia-Romagna, the broad agricultural plain that runs between the Apennines and the Po valley. Lambrusco is not one grape but a family of red sparkling varieties native to this part of northern Italy, each attached to its own sub-zone with measurably different results in the glass.

Grasparossa di Castelvetro, where Cialdini sits, produces the darkest and most tannic Lambrusco: deep ruby, dense mousse, firm body. Di Sorbara, grown on different soils further north in Modena province, yields something lighter, paler, and more aromatic, with higher acidity and a finer bead. Both sub-zones are DOC appellations. The grape variety and the sub-zone together determine the colour, body, and what ends up in the bottle, which is why the Chiarli range labels both.

Soil And Site

The Cialdini facility and its surrounding vineyards are positioned within the Castelvetro di Modena hills, inside the Grasparossa DOC boundary. The estate holds more than 100 acres of Lambrusco Grasparossa around the manor and additional parcels in two other parts of Modena province, planted to Grasparossa and di Sorbara. Grechetto Gentile, a white variety, occupies 17 acres at Cialdini. Verified soil composition data is not available for the estate parcels. All vineyards are certified under Italy's VIVA Sustainable Viticulture Program, a government-administered framework covering water, air, land, and biodiversity indicators.

Story

Cleto Chiarli ran the Osteria dell'Artigliere in Modena in the mid-1800s. He made Lambrusco for his customers from local grape varieties, and it sold well enough that in 1860 he registered a separate wine company: Cantina Cleto Chiarli. The business grew steadily from a table wine operation into a large regional producer.

Around a century after the founding, the family adopted the Charmat tank method for sparkling wine production. The Charmat method carries out the secondary fermentation in a sealed pressurised tank rather than in bottle, preserving freshness and making large-scale Lambrusco practical. The Chiarli family was among the first to use it for Lambrusco, and the method became standard across the region.

By the turn of the twenty-first century, Mauro and Anselmo Chiarli, great-grandsons of the founder, were running the company. The volume model built on Charmat-method production was one direction. In 2002 they chose another: they began converting the Villa Cialdini manor into a dedicated winemaking facility and planted the surrounding land with estate Grasparossa vines. The aim was to move from bought-in fruit and blended production toward single-origin, estate-grown Lambrusco. The premium range at Cialdini is the result of that shift and remains the label that carries the Chiarli name forward.

Vineyards And Cellar

The estate holds vineyards across three separate zones in Modena province. The largest block surrounds Cialdini: more than 100 acres of Lambrusco Grasparossa, plus the 17-acre Grechetto Gentile planting. Two further vineyard sites hold Grasparossa and di Sorbara. The separation of grape varieties across geographically distinct parcels feeds a range grouped around appellation: Grasparossa di Castelvetro for the estate wines, di Sorbara for the Fondatore.

All vineyards carry VIVA certification. The standard covers environmental impact across the vineyard year, not only a single farming input. Premium wines go through secondary fermentation by the Charmat method, the sealed-tank process the Chiarli family helped bring to Lambrusco production. Tank fermentation preserves primary fruit character and aromatic freshness, which is why Charmat-method Lambrusco smells and tastes more vividly of the grape than many other sparkling red styles.

Wines

The range divides into a Premium Collection and a Classic Collection. The premium wines draw exclusively on estate fruit and named appellations.

Metodo del Fondatore is a premium Lambrusco di Sorbara DOC. The name refers to both the founder and the Charmat method the family pioneered. Sorbara is the lightest and most aromatic Lambrusco sub-zone: pale ruby, fine persistent mousse, violet and red cherry on the nose, high acidity, and a clean, dry finish.

Vigneto Cialdini is a premium Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro DOC grown on the estate's home vineyards. Grasparossa is the more muscular sub-zone: dark fruit, firmer tannin, denser mousse, and more body than Sorbara. The appellation name on the label connects the wine directly to the land around the manor.

Centenario is a premium Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro DOC labelled Amabile, the Italian designation for off-dry to semi-sweet sparkling wine. Named to mark the winery's hundredth year. Residual sweetness softens Grasparossa's firm tannin and makes the bottle the most immediately approachable in the premium range.

Cleto Chiarli Biologico is a premium Lambrusco Grasparossa DOC made from organically farmed estate fruit, VIVA-certified, with a character that follows the Grasparossa profile: dark, firm, and lively.

In The Glass

The two Lambrusco types in the range behave differently and are worth understanding separately. Sorbara, in the Metodo del Fondatore, is pale ruby with a fine bead; it opens with violet and fresh red cherry, high acidity driving the line through the palate, and a clean dry exit. It is the lighter, more delicate glass.

Grasparossa, across Vigneto Cialdini and the Biologico, is darker and more assertive. The mousse is denser, the fruit is concentrated dark cherry and blackberry, and there is real tannin in the mid-palate, more than most sparkling wine delivers. That tannin makes Grasparossa a natural food wine: it cuts through cured meats and aged cheese rather than competing with them. Centenario carries the same Grasparossa frame but with enough residual sweetness to soften the grip and pull the wine toward fruit-led drinking rather than the table.

Across the premium range, the Charmat method keeps the wines vivid and aromatic, without oak or heavy lees character. What you taste is grape and place.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Vigneto Cialdini, Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro DOC. It is the wine grown on the home estate, fermented by the Charmat method, and labelled with the sub-zone that defines Cialdini's land. Deep ruby with a persistent mousse, dark cherry and blackberry fruit on the nose, firm mid-palate tannin, and a dry finish with enough acid to keep the wine lively through a full glass. It is more tannic than sparkling wine drinkers expect and more food-friendly than Lambrusco's informal reputation suggests. One bottle here makes the 2002 decision legible: the investment in Cialdini produced a wine that tastes of a specific place, not of a production method.

Anecdote

Cleto Chiarli was running the Osteria dell'Artigliere in central Modena in the mid-1800s when he noticed that his customers were returning as much for the Lambrusco he served as for the food on the table. He had been making the wine himself from local varieties, and by 1860 the demand was clear enough that he made a choice his family would build a business on: he registered a separate wine company rather than stay a restaurateur. The osteria closed as the wine operation grew. By 1910 the company was producing one million bottles. By 2019 it had passed twenty million. The man who left his own restaurant to follow the Lambrusco never saw any of that, but the company he registered in 1860 is still in the hands of his family, now in its fourth generation.

Final Word

Cleto Chiarli is the oldest wine company in Emilia-Romagna still operating under its founding name, and the 2002 pivot to estate Lambrusco at Cialdini gives the modern bottles a concrete address. The range covers both major Lambrusco sub-zones, the two grape types behave differently in the glass, and the VIVA-certified vineyards give the premium collection a farming backstory that the classic range does not carry. Vigneto Cialdini is the bottle that earns the estate its place in the atlas.

Sources

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