Collalbrigo Estate | Conegliano, Italy | Rugby
We first met Francesco Cosulich at the 2015 Rugby World Cup watching Italy play versus France, and besides his family’s rugby prowess he is a winemaker of great quality and with a wonderful history. He and his family are deeply committed to the wine industry and are valued partners of SWC.
The Wine
We are thrilled to introduce a selection from Francesco’s celebrated range of wines and Proseccos produced on his Collalbrigo Estate in Northern Italy. Located on the first hill outside of Conegliano in Italy’s Veneto region, the beautiful sloping landscape has been treasured by noble Venetian families for centuries and provides the perfect environment for a winery; so much so that Francesco’s Prosecco has been commended as one of the best in the country.
Francesco also brings to the table our highly exclusive – and only – sporting cocktail: Cipriani’s Bellini. Many people will be familiar with the origin of the world-famous Bellini cocktail, consisting of white peach pulp and brut sparkling wine. It was invented by Francesco’s childhood friend Guiseppe Cipriani of Harry’s Bar, Venice, in 1948 and the pair have now teamed up to produce a spectacular bottled version of this treasured cocktail which all Bellini lovers will simply adore!
Sporting Connection
The Cosulich family has an impressive sporting pedigree. Francesco and his two sons have represented Italian rugby at top levels. As a family and wine company they have also been official partners with the Italian Rugby team for the last 20 years and have contributed a huge amount to many worthwhile sporting causes.
The Winemaker Says:
“From the very moment I heard about the Sporting Wine Club, it was clear to me that this was a natural fit for myself, my family and our wine business. I immediately related to Chris and Simon’s vision for the SWC, which is built on some of the core elements I have centered my life around, such as sport, wine and friendship. My passion for sport has indeed ensured a continuous involvement of Collalbrigo’s wines with the Italian sporting environment throughout the years, ranging from sponsoring a local volleyball team when I was in my twenties to becoming the official partner of the Italian rugby team for over 20 years! An additional draw to the Sporting Wine Club was represented by the opportunity to support a fantastic cause such as ‘Life After Rugby’, which we feel very strongly about given the many examples we have seen in our own country of great young men struggling to find their path following their playing career. Giving something back is part of our sport and our nature and in the past we have been involved with the Elephant XV, and invitational team raising money for a schooling charity in Mozambique, as well as for La Colonna XV, which does an amazing fundraising job in aid of research for bone marrow diseases. We are incredibly excited about our new venture and look forward to meeting you all at the next Sporting Wine Club event.”
-Francesco Cosulich
