Storia
Foundations of the project
Quintopasso grew from the Chiarli family's long-term work with Lambrusco di Sorbara. In 1970, the family began recovering and selecting historic Sorbara and Grasparossa material through massal selection. During the fourth generation, represented by Mauro and Anselmo Chiarli, this work was accompanied by new approaches to vineyard management.
A new estate winery was built at Tenuta Cialdini in Castelvetro di Modena in 2000 to give greater value to grapes from the family's own vineyards. It became the production base for the family's premium wines, including Quintopasso.
Experimentation and debut
Around 2010, a dedicated experiment began to explore Lambrusco di Sorbara through Metodo Classico rather than the tank and ancestral methods historically associated with Lambrusco. The resulting project was intended as the family's most ambitious expression of Sorbara.
Quintopasso made its commercial debut in 2014 with Rosé Brut, produced entirely from Sorbara and matured for an extended period on the lees. The project developed under Carlo and Tommaso Chiarli, members of the family's fifth generation, as a distinct identity focused on research, stylistic definition and precision.
The 2017 vintage
The 2017 growing season began with early budbreak followed by a late-April frost that caused substantial damage at a critical stage. From late May through late August, temperatures remained unusually high, sometimes exceeding 40°C, while conditions were persistently dry. Frost, heat and drought sharply reduced the crop.
The vine-training system's foliage helped shade the ripening bunches. Emergency irrigation and the particular soil composition of Tenuta Sozzigalli helped the vines withstand the drought. Cooler weather and rain arrived in late August, limiting excessive stress during the final phase of véraison. Although yields were small, the grapes reached harvest in excellent sanitary condition, and enologist Filippo Mattioli regarded 2017 as one of the project's best Metodo Classico vintages.
Cuvée Paradiso, Pas Dosé and Rosé Brut from the 2017 harvest spent nearly 60 months on the lees and were disgorged in November before their presentation at Vinitaly.
A distinct identity
In 2026, Quintopasso Metodo Classico received its own dedicated digital identity within the Chiarli 1860 portfolio, reflecting its status as the group's prestige traditional-method project and the following it had developed in Modena and beyond.
Terroir
Quintopasso's Sorbara is connected to Tenuta Sozzigalli and the alluvial plain north of Modena, between the Secchia and Panaro rivers. The Rosé is associated specifically with the left bank of the Secchia.
The Sozzigalli soils are sandy and rich in salts. Their composition helped sustain the vines during the extreme drought of 2017 when used together with emergency irrigation. Sorbara itself is naturally low yielding, with loose bunches, irregular berry size and frequent millerandage. Its must is pale, moderately sugary and marked by very high acidity—properties suited to long-aged sparkling wine.
The 2017 season illustrates the climatic pressures of the site: early budbreak was followed by damaging frost in late April; late May through late August brought dry weather and temperatures that sometimes exceeded 40°C. A late-August shift to cooler temperatures and rain relieved the vines during the closing phase of véraison and helped preserve grape health despite the severely reduced crop.
Vinificazione
The Sorbara vineyards preserve historic genetic material through massal selection. Rare indigenous clones were selected to retain the variety's traditional characteristics, including loose bunches and pronounced millerandage.
Canopy management proved important in the hot, dry 2017 season: the foliage provided shade for ripening bunches, and emergency irrigation supported the vines during extreme drought. The combination helped maintain grape health until late-August rain and cooler temperatures relieved stress during the final phase of véraison.
Across the Chiarli group's vineyards, management includes integrated pest control, drought-resilient rootstocks and Agriculture 4.0 tools for real-time monitoring of climatic and water conditions. Experimental plots described as organic laboratories are used to test practices intended to reduce environmental impact and improve soil and vine vitality. The group began its Equalitas certification process in 2024 and achieved organization-level certification in 2026 following environmental, ethical and economic assessment.
Quintopasso is devoted to Metodo Classico sparkling wine, with Lambrusco di Sorbara at the center of the project. Production takes place at the estate winery at Tenuta Cialdini in Castelvetro di Modena, where the family's premium wines are made exclusively from estate-grown grapes.
The project began as an experiment intended to test Sorbara's potential for secondary fermentation and maturation in bottle. Its first release, Rosé Brut, was made entirely from Sorbara and received extended ageing on the lees.
The 2017 Cuvée Paradiso, Pas Dosé and Rosé Brut remained on their lees for nearly 60 months before disgorgement in November. Cuvée Paradiso combines Chardonnay with Sorbara from a historic family selection, while Rosé Brut and Maestro are pure Sorbara expressions. No broader technical specifications for pressing, primary fermentation, dosage, riddling, filtration or sulphur management are assigned to the range.
Filosofia
Quintopasso is positioned around three ideas: research, style and precision. It applies accumulated family knowledge of Lambrusco to the less conventional pursuit of long-aged Metodo Classico, treating Sorbara as a variety capable of producing serious traditional-method sparkling wine.
The wider fifth-generation objective is continuity through innovation: to preserve a recognizable connection to Modena and historic grape material while producing sparkling wines that are authentic, elegant, approachable and capable of offering something unexpected. Quintopasso represents the prestige end of that ambition, with long lees ageing and vintage sensitivity used to explore Sorbara beyond its established forms.