Winery and property
A century of Winemaking
Cantina Garuti is located just 13 km from Modena, in Sorbara, a town renowned for its signature product of excellence: Lambrusco.
For nearly one hundred years, four generations of the same family have been devoted to producing this wine, certified with the DOP label and protected by the Lambrusco di Modena Consortium.
In the 1990s, the winery introduced mechanization in vineyard cultivation and transformed its winemaking process, with the aim of further enhancing the already high quality of its wines.
The four estates encompass thirty hectares of arable land and thirty hectares of vineyards. Since 1993, the agritourism facility has also welcomed tourists and professionals visiting the area.
Our beloved Lambrusco
Today, the winery stands as a symbol of the perfect balance between the tradition of a product with deep-rooted identity and the innovations that allow a business to grow in the market, while making a positive contribution to the community.
The path traced by predecessors Dante, Elio, and Romeo leaves no doubt about the future. Honored multiple times by the Italian Republic with the titles of Commendatore, Ufficiale, and Cavaliere, these determined and passionate men remain a living example of devotion to their land—never exploited but preserved—of a work ethic that involved all their human and family resources, and of an unwavering dedication to Lambrusco, a wine cherished until the very last sip.
A Great Vision
Garuti Lambrusco was born from the foresight of Dante, who founded the winery around 1920 on a piece of land among the most favorable for this grape variety.
Children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren have embraced and nurtured this heritage of knowledge, building and innovating a life project and a business that involves and unites the entire family.
It was Dante’s great vision: from a humble sharecropper, he began to dream of owning land for his vineyards. His sons, Elio and Romeo, later inherited the same devotion to the sparkling red wine typical of this region—Lambrusco.
A 100 years old family passion!
The Garuti Family and its Lambrusco
Cantina Garuti was born a hundred years ago from a love story.
In 1920, Dante and Valentina married and moved to Sorbara, the homeland of Lambrusco. A predestined place, where they began writing their story, intertwining it with that of a grape variety commonly grown in the fields around their home—one that would soon become known worldwide.
The couple began cultivating and producing Lambrusco di Sorbara—already much loved locally—with dedication, study, and such attention to quality that they soon attracted a growing number of customers and admirers.
The land, the wine, and the cellar soon drew in Elio and Romeo, two of the three Garuti sons, together with their wives, Vilma and Marta.
This new generation acquired additional estates, allowing Lambrusco to fully express the generous character of a fertile land shaped by rivers, and that unique note of cheerfulness so typical of the people living in this region.
Today, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren carry on the same life and business project with passion, innovating the winery with the same devotion as their predecessors.
Sips of History
1945: more vineyards are added and the production increases
1958: Dante Garuti is appointed Cavaliere del Lavoro
1969: the Scaletta farm was acquired followed by the Ca ‘Bianca farm in 1970
1971: the new winery was built
1975: the Acetaia was established for the production of our Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
1985: Elio, Dante’s son, is appointed ‘Cavaliere del Lavoro’
1988: the last piece of land is acquired: the Uccelliera farm
1995: steel barrels are being introduced in the winery
1996: Elio is appointed ‘Ufficiale’
2000: Elio is appointed ‘Commendatore’
2011: The production of Lambrusco di Sorbara DOP with Refermentation in the bottle is restored
The latest new entry is an Extra Dry white sparkling wine obtained from Trebbiano di Spagna.
Production of ROSA’: rosé sparkling dry in Spumante Brut version.
Production of LUNA’: dry sparkling white in the Spumante Brut version.
The new lines dedicated to the family for “Ho.Re.Ca” are launched together with the new bottles of Lambrusco DANTE and ROMEO, sparkling wine, VALENTINA and ELIO, and the two classic method CENTO ANNI bottles.
Sustainable viticulture and high quality wines
Tradition in a Glass
Generational continuity has made it possible to keep alive a heritage of invaluable experience and practices. The most important lesson, coming from the fourth generation, revolves around the concepts of naturalness, authenticity, and quality.
To preserve these values and pour them into a glass of Lambrusco, one must start from the ground up: from cultivation that excludes herbicides and chemical products, relying instead on mechanical soil cleaning, on mineral fertilizers without additives—only nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium—and on minimal treatments in the name of sustainable viticulture.
Moreover, the mechanized harvest, carried out at night with temperature monitoring, spares the grapes from extreme thermal fluctuations that could compromise the wine’s quality.
Pruning and winemaking
Lambrusco di Sorbara is a vegetative vine variety. The traditional “archetto” cultivation system, used since the past, prevents the grapes from overgrowing. A cane is cut from the spur-pruned cordon and bent downward in a ninety-degree curve. The isolated buds are the ones that will produce the grapes in the following year, ensuring their quality.
Winemaking also follows a natural path, without forcing the stages of transformation and refinement, enhancing and preserving the typicity and uniqueness of the grape variety.
Technology plays its part through temperature-controlled tanks. Clarification for natural stabilization is achieved through temperature and physical processes, without the use of adjuvant substances. Time itself becomes the key player in the maturation of the product and its natural clarification.
30 hectares of vines
In the post-war years, the Garuti family invested in vineyard cultivation and winery production.
Today, the estate includes 30 hectares of arable land and 30 hectares of vineyards, cultivated since the 1920s. The Marandello estate, the Scaletta estate, the Ca’ Bianca estate, and the Uccelliera estate are all located within the Lambrusco di Sorbara denomination of origin area.
Alongside the Lambrusco di Sorbara grape, the family also cultivates Salamino di Santa Croce, Pignoletto, and, more recently, Trebbiano di Spagna.
Each plot of land has its own distinct character, carefully noted and remembered to be passed down to future generations. Every year, both the production yield and the quality of the wine are meticulously recorded.
The Marandello estate differs greatly from Ca’ Bianca: the former produces more persistent aromas, a higher level of acidity, and undergoes the Charmat method with a process lasting twelve to fourteen months. Ca’ Bianca, on the other hand, is characterized by lighter, less lingering aromas, making it ideal for producing pure, slightly sweet Lambrusco di Sorbara.
Through these differences, the winery improves production quality while preserving and enhancing the unique characteristics of each estate.
The Lambrusco terroir
The finest Lambrusco wines are born from a terroir of exceptional vocation, right in Sorbara (MO), a place renowned for its namesake Lambrusco.
Over the centuries, the Secchia and Panaro rivers have made this “land in between” fertile, creating soils that are loose, sandy, permeable, and rich in potassium. Man has then shaped the landscape with orchards and vineyards, a unique scenery of open horizons interrupted only by farmhouses and majestic native trees—poplars, elms, and oaks—often entwined with vines.
Finally, the climate, marked by sharp seasonal variations but softened by the presence of the two rivers, completes the natural and human masterpiece that makes the miracle of Lambrusco possible.
The various Lambrusco varieties—Sorbara, Grasparossa, and Salamino di Santa Croce—all originate from Vitis labrusca, a wild vine that grew along the edges of fields as far back as Roman times.
Since the Lambrusco di Sorbara vine is hermaphroditic, it has traditionally been cultivated alongside Lambrusco Salamino di Santa Croce to ensure proper pollination.
In ancient times, the different varieties were planted side by side and harvested together. Today, two rows of Sorbara are cultivated next to one of Salamino, and mechanized harvesting allows the plantations to be picked separately, respecting their different ripening times. Blending is then carried out in the winery.
Lambrusco di Sorbara DOP – Ampelographic Composition: at least 60% Lambrusco di Sorbara and up to 40% Lambrusco Salamino.
Sustainable viticulture and high quality wines
A Refined Drinking Experience
The family’s dedication, combined with their desire to renew and reinterpret the culture of wine, has led to constantly evolving cultivation and winemaking practices—even reviving traditional methods. All of this is done while preserving the naturalness and authenticity of Lambrusco, enhancing the wine’s most genuine organoleptic characteristics.
The ability to adapt to changing tastes is reflected in the numerous awards and recognitions the winery has received over the years, in both national and international competitions and guides.
Awards And References on Wine Tourism Guides
- International Wine Competition Selection of the Mayor
- National Wine Competition DOC DOCG Doujà D'Or of Asti
- AWC VIENNA International Wine Challenge
- Vinitaly International Wine Competition
- Competition Rosé wines of Italy
- – Matilde di Canossa Wine Competition - Terre di Lambrusco
- – Slow Wine Guide, published by slow Food Editore
- – Emilia Romagna drinking guide
- – Golosario by Paolo Massobrio