When it comes to wine, the future is sparkling. Well, at least as far as a trio of Italian entrepreneurs is concerned.
“A year and a half ago, we decided prosecco—the wine we’ve been drinking since we were kids—was lacking attention,” Gian Luca Passi, one of the founders of the just-launched FIOL Prosecco DOC, says. “We wanted to create something people could be comfortable ordering by name.”
So far, it’s off to a good start. FIOL, which has already cultivated a following in the U.K., Italy and Hong Kong, has made it onto the wine list at the see-and-be-seen Cipriani restaurants and at Sant Ambroeus, the socialite-favorite cafe with branches in Manhattan and the Hamptons.
Founded by Passi, an Italian count whose family has long made wine for Villa Tiepolo Passi, their 16th-century home, and his friends, brothers Giovanni and Pietro Ciani Bassetti, FIOL aims to set a luxury standard for prosecco and establish itself as the first name in Italian sparkling wine.
As Giovanni Ciani Bassetti explains, “Our ideal customer is someone who travels all around the world and is looking for a high-end experience.”
The goal for FIOL is to become a regular at the bar, and according to Passi, it won’t be long before that happens. “No matter where you go, there’s always a drink prosecco can be the right match for,” he says, noting the suddenly ubiquitous Aperol Spritz. “By next summer, it’ll be everywhere.”
