The famous Manchester City forward, Erling Haaland at Umberto Cesari, a brand from Romagna

Erling Haaland, the Norwegian striker for Manchester City today, is only 22 years old but has already broken dozens of football records. Absolute world football star, Haaland, on hiatus after Norway failed to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar, took a trip to Emilia-Romagna, with his primary destination being Maranello, to buy a Ferrari (and, apparently, a Lamborghini). But, in the “Motor & Food Valley” of Emilia-Romagna and Italy, there was no shortage of food and wine. The footballer stopped in the famous Montana restaurant in Fiorano, the historic destination of Maranello’s VIPs, sportsmen, and drivers, and made his dedication on the autographed shirt “To Rossella, the best pasta I’ve ever eaten. Thank you!”, for a toast Erling Haaland visited one of the cellars of his heart, Umberto Cesari, led by Gianmaria Cesari, among the qualitative references of the Romagna area and Sangiovese. Where Haaland wanted to visit the cellars and vineyards of Umberto Cesari, of which he is a passionate lover, as Gian Maria Cesari himself tells WineNews: “he is a boy of unique simplicity. We visited the cellar, and he wanted to try a vertical of Tauleto, tasting the 1998 vintage, 2000, which is that of his year of birth, 2003 (awarded as “Sangiovese Trophy” in 2007 by the prestigious International Wine & Spirit Competition in London, ed) and the current one on the market which is the 2016”, says Cesari, who adds. “Erling is a big fan of our wines, he drinks them when he is in his Spanish home in Marbella (as evidenced by a recent Instagram story depicting Haaland with Cesari’s Costa di Rose, ed), and buys them in Manchester. We talked about wine for a long time: in addition to being a lover of our wines, he is a great lover of Spanish wines, beginning with the Unico di Vega Sicilia”.
A story that, far from the stereotype of the machine-athlete who has to give up the pleasures of the table entirely, describes the footballer’s passion for wine, who occasionally allows himself a toast. For him, Cesari continues, it was also organized a lunch in the cellar, with local flavors paired with the company’s wines: “we knew about his visit and that he was going to stay, so I called chef Riccardo Agostini of the starred restaurant “Il Piastrino by Pennabilli. It was a very informal visit, dedicated to relaxation and the pleasure of spending time together”. The typical spirit of Emilia-Romagna, is also in the glass. Which also conquers the champions of football, such as Haaland.