OUR HISTORY
Wine has been part of our Family for four generations
Elvino Miali
When the Philloxera in Puglia devastated over 2/3 of the existing vineyards, the second generation, Michele and Antonio Miali gave hope to the farmers buying their grapes if they replanted certain white grapes that were needed by the Vermouth producers of Piedmont, giving a big push to the business and to the local economy.
They bet, before anybody else, the oenological potential of our area, the Valle d'Itria and of its main grapes, Verdeca and Bianco d'Alessano.
"Vinicola Miali" (how it was called our winery at the time) became one of the most important supplier of white wine for Cinzano, and other international vermouth producers.
Martino Miali
1886
'30s- '40s
'60s
In 1886, after the Philloxera destroyed almost all the vineyards in Northern Italy, a smart merchant of agricultural commodities, decided to start to make and trade wines with other regions.
His name was Elvino Miali, and he was a pioneer.
In the following years the demand of his wines grew up quickly and Elvino decided to expand and re-organize his business, building his own winery. He never owned the vineyards: every year he selected the best grapes to buy. In this way he could guarantee a fair profit for the farmers and the best grapes for himself.
About his name: the name Elvino means something very similar to "the wine" in Italian. The truth is that, when he was born the officer at the local registry office, misspelled the name (at the time dialect was the only language spoken) and from "Livino", his name became "Elvino".
Michele Miali
In 1960, Martino and Francesco Miali, sons of Michele, took a big leap, a life changing decision that projected the winery in the modern era: our first bottled wine.
At that time, bottling wine was unthinkable business and the most of the wineries produced wines to sell in bulk and only 4-5 wineries started to bottle their wines.
For years, the bottled wine was just a small part of the business but a new brand has been created. A brand that was also a bet: a bet on the region and on our town.
Few years later, in 1969, just to confirm our serious intentions, Martino Miali asked to the lawmaker the recognition of the D.O.C. for wine of the town: the Martina Franca D.O.C. was born. MIALI became a synonymous of great wines in Valle d'Itria.
THE 4th GENERATION
Michele, Francesco and Marcello Miali, all sons of Martino, are now the 4th generation of the family running the winery. 3 brothers with 3 different fields of operations.
Michele, the first-born, with his degree in Economics and his passion for arts and design is in the Sales and Marketing Manager.
Francesco, the winemaker, started to follow his passion already in young age, following the father during his working evening in the winery. He graduated in "Oenology and Viticulture" at the University of Turin, in Piedmont, and he is now one of the most respected Apulian winemakers.
Marcello, the youngest, after his degree in Economics, lived in Rome and Milan and now lives in New Jersey, from where he manage the USA market.