A Living Heritage,
Preserved in Modena
TheChiarli Historical Archive, housed at our production headquarters in Modena, brings together over 160 years of documents, artifacts, and testimonies that tell the story of our family, our winery, and Lambrusco itself. It is a living archive, founded by Cleto in 1860 and grown alongside the business: from the ledgers of the first bottles sold outside the family trattoria, to the medal received in Paris in 1900 for our Lambrusco di Sorbara, to the decades of correspondence with the clients, suppliers, and technicians who have walked beside us.
Official Recognition of Corporate Memory
The archive gave life to the Chiarli Gallery, located at Tenuta Cialdini in Castelvetro, where a curated selection of vintage bottles, labels, cellar tools, and photographs provide a visual narrative of our journey. Today, the Archive is recognized in the Register of Historic Italian Companies and is a member of the Museimpresanetwork. This is not to celebrate the past, but to provide depth and roots to everything we do today. The Chiarli Gallery, housed at Tenuta Cialdini in Castelvetro, was born from the reorganisation of the company archive and exhibits documents, bottles, and original objects that tell over 160 years of history of Lambrusco and the Chiarli family.
A Boutique Museum
within a Great History
The journey begins with rare 16th-century volumes documenting the presence of Lambrusco in Emilia since Roman times. It continues with a precious collection of blown glass produced in the Duchy of Modena between the 17th and 19th centuries, leading to the famous "English Bottle" of 1652—the precursor to the modern bottle that made the sparkling version of Lambrusco possible.
One section is dedicated toCleto Chiarli's Tavern and family heirlooms: tableware, his wife Lucia's recipe book, original glasses, and photos that capture the beginning of our business in 1860. From here, the winery's history unfolds through historic bottles, labels, letters, and awards. Notable among these is the "Mention Honorable" received in Paris in 1900, which established Chiarli as the benchmark for quality Lambrusco both in Italy and abroad. The Gallery concludes with a look toward the future, represented by the founding of the Winery Cleto Chiarli in 2001.
