Serie A soccer is back, and wine (and more) is still a “hit” among club sponsors

These days, it’s hard to feel nostalgic for soccer. With increasingly packed schedules, the many fans of what is the most popular sport, at least in Italy, but certainly not only there, don’t have to go long without their soccer fix. This weekend, however, marks perhaps the most eagerly awaited moment: the start of the Serie A soccer season, which has always been synonymous with dreams and expectations. And so the familiar rituals will return: heading to the stadium, turning on the TV, the little radio pressed to the ear for the more nostalgic among us, and gathering at the bar with friends, perhaps over a glass of wine, to discuss the game. But there’s also another aspect that, as tradition dictates, remains strong: the collaboration between the world of wine (and, more broadly, food and beverage) and the clubs in Italy’s top soccer league.
Partnerships that strengthen a duo ready to tackle a sports season that everyone hopes will be marked by success worth celebrating … with a toast! So we took a “tour” of the Serie A clubs’ websites, focusing primarily on the wine section, to discover the wine brands at the “starting line” of the championship, looking for both familiar names and new additions, even though we weren’t able to cover every club. This overview, coming just a few hours before the season’s first kick-off on Saturday, August 22, at 6:30 p.m., featuring Udinese vs. Como and Inter vs. Monza, is inevitably incomplete, given that many agreements will still be finalized in the coming days and weeks.
But, in the meantime, listing the clubs in alphabetical order, the ambitious Atalanta counts Muratori Franciacorta among its special sponsors, Polini Myspritz (Polini Group, ed.) among its platinum sponsors, and Castello di Grumello 1890 among its official sponsors. On the front of the jersey, however, the main sponsor will continue to be Lete, a well-known brand of naturally sparkling water. Bologna counts Vini d’Italia - Alessandro Berselli among its sponsors, while the jersey features Saputo as the main sponsor, the logo of the family that owns the team and is involved in dairy production, and Selenella, a famous potato brand, as the back sponsor. Cagliari “plays” at home with brands from the wine and beverage sector. Among the supporters are two of the region’s (and beyond) most important wineries, Argiolas and Cantine Santadi, while the Doppio Malto brewery appears as a jersey sponsor. Como, which will be playing in the Champions League for the first time in its history, counts Ferrari Trento among its suppliers, a name that is a mainstay of the Trentodoc region and of the Italian and international sparkling wine industry, owned by the Lunelli Group. Fiorentina, the only team representing Tuscany in Serie A this year, counts Vallepicciola, one of the leading producers of Chianti Classico and owned by the Bolfo family, among its partner sponsors. Genoa, Italy’s oldest soccer club, also counts La Baia del Sole Cantine Federici, a well-known Ligurian winery, among its official suppliers. Inter, the reigning Italian champions, continues its partnership with Santa Margherita (official wine supplier), one of the “big names” in Italian winemaking and a jewel of the Herita Marzotto Wine Estates Group, which owns nearly 800 hectares of vineyards across Italy’s most important wine-growing regions. Juventus, Italy’s most successful club in terms of the number of league titles won, counts Ferrari Trento among its partners, a sparkling wine that has repeatedly “celebrated” the Old Lady’s successes, a testament to a long-standing partnership. Monza, one of the newly promoted teams, counts the Meregalli Group, one of the most important and historic distributors of premium wines and spirits, among its official suppliers; 958 Santero, a sparkling wine with a well-known connection to soccer, serves as a silver sponsor, while Polini Myspritz is among the bronze sponsors. Sassuolo “toasts” with Cantine Maschio (official partner), Torino with 958 Santero (happy hour partner), and Venezia’s return to Serie A is once again marked by Cynar Spritz as the front-of-jersey sponsor. Udinese counts many prominent names in the wine world among the exclusive partners of its clubhouse: from Ca’di Rajo (VIP club naming partner), a jewel of the Cecchetto family, to Ferrari Trento (official sparkling wines partner for the manager’s club), which, after partnerships with Como and Juventus, completes a “hat trick” of partnerships with the flagship team of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. This region, in the world of wine, counts Livio Felluga (official club wines partner) among its proudest achievements. And while Nouvelle Sélection is the official champagne of the Bianconeri, the “President Club & Sky Box Exclusive Wine Partners” program features Agricole Gussalli Beretta, owned by the Gussalli Beretta family, one of the most prominent in Italian industry, with a portfolio of wines of the highest quality spanning regions such as Bolgheri (Fabio Motta), Franciacorta (Lo Sparviere), Chianti Classico (Castello di Radda), Barolo (Fortemasso), South Tyrol (Steinhause), Colline Teramane (Orlandi Contucci Ponno), and Colli Orientali del Friuli (Specogna), all mentioned on the Udinese website.
Wine, but not only wine, because among Udinese’s partners is also Nonino, a historic Friulian distillery known throughout the world as well as a great example of a successful family business. For a Serie A experience to be enjoyed to the fullest, even in a glass.