Sartori of Verona has hired the renowned Franco Bernabei as consulting winemaker and, in a related move toward unprecedented growth in quality, announced a merger with Cantina di Colognola that will secure Sartori’s access to the Veneto region’s broadest vineyard holdings.

The agreement with Bernabei follows a year of collaboration with Sartori, starting with vintage 2001. Working in two phases over a five-year period, Bernabei will start with experiments in the vineyards and culminate in perfecting the vinification and aging techniques for the Sartori family reserve wines. Sartori seeks to use Bernabei’s proven expertise to bring a new level of excellence to its classic Veronese wines, including the single vineyard Sella Soave, Montegradella Valpolicella and Corte Bra Amarone.

Sartori merged last year with the wine producing cooperative Cantina di Colognola, giving the producer rare guaranteed access to quality grape production in a region where few wine houses control their own vineyards and grower contracts change from vintage to vintage. The Sartori-Colognola cooperative will receive consignments from over 800 growers and extends over an area of more than 6,200 acres in the Soave and Valpolicella appellations.

In its fourth generation of business spanning over a century, the Sartori family has helped the wines of Verona achieve a reputation for excellence throughout the world. Sartori flagships include the area's historic Amarone, Valpolicella, and Soave, each made from grapes grown within the respective "Classico" zone, as well as the international varietal, Merlot. In addition, Sartori produces a Pinot Grigio wine from grapes grown in the IGT Venezie zone, which includes the Friuli region.

 His work with Sartori marks a return to Bernabei’s roots: although he has lived in Tuscany for over 25 years, he was born in the Veneto, the region that includes Verona. His vast experience includes working with prestigious Italian wineries and winemakers to advance historic local wines including Verdicchio, Tocai, Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Bernabei’s most recent projects have been in the "up and coming" areas of Southern Italy and Sardinia.