Nick Lees: Joe Giusti moves from Prairie construction colossus to Prosecco powerhouse
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Treviso, Italy — Intrepid 18-year-old Canadian pilot Lt. Gordon McLean climbed into his single-seater British Sopwith Camel fighter biplane on Feb. 4, 1918 and flew into the skies north of Venice, Italy.
“It was the last year of the First World War and when he spotted three German fighters, he immediately engaged them,” says Ermenegildo (Joe) Giusti, the biggest landowner in the Treviso area, world-renowned for its Prosecco wine.
“He shot one down and was chasing the second when the third German aircraft downed him. He must have known the average lifespan of a fighter pilot then was 37 minutes.”
The fighter pilot’s dogtags were found a few short years ago by workmen restoring Giusti’s vineyards and the vineyard owner erected a monument to McLean, from Hamilton, Ont. The memorial includes the Canadian Maple Leaf flag.
“Canada has been very good to me,” said proud Italian-Canadian Giusti. “I wanted to say thank you Canada.”
Some friends and I met Giusti at a Sorrentino’s winemakers dinner and he so enthusiastically described his valley we recently picked a date and jumped on a flight to Venice.
It was over a lunchtime glass of his top grappa — maybe two — he made me wish I’d become a framer rather than a journalist.
As a farm lad, Canada had been the land of Giusti’s dreams of opportunity. In 1973, at the age of 17, he travelled to Vancouver with $20 in his pocket.
He was a talented, dedicated worker and from his days as a framer and then custom home builder, he grew his Giusti Group of Companies into a multi-faceted operation.
It became an industry leader in heavy industrial, commercial and multi-family residential construction.
The company’s contracts spread across B.C. and arrived in Alberta in 1978 with its Julian Tile business in Edmonton.
“Our head offices in the construction businesses moved to Calgary from B.C. in the late ’90s to follow business growth opportunities,” says Giusti.
“Some $1-billion worth of work was completed in Fort McMurray and Fort MacKay.”
Julian Tile recently completed construction of a 30,000-square-foot showroom and distribution centre for Western Canada in Edmonton, just off 170 Street on 105 Avenue.
Giusti returned regularly to his native land and 2002 saw the beginning of his serious investment in the wine industry using funds from his Canadian ventures.
His first purchase was his wife Maria’s family vineyard in Nervesa della Battaglia, a rural village between the hills of Montello and the Piave river near Treviso.
Giusti’s main office, Case Rolando, is in the village and the personality of the very old 1,000-square-foot property, used by the Germans as headquarters during both world wars, has been fully restored.
The company has expanded steadily and now owns 10 vineyards, with some 70 per cent of his 100 hectares planted with vines.
Giusti travelled the world to taste the best wine and thought hard about what he must do to place his wine at the forefront of the world’s best.
“There is no reason to drink bad wine,” he said. “Great wine comes from the vine with the help of the land and the sun. There is no need to add to it.”
He is experimenting with resistant clone stock and says spraying is gone forever. Resistant clone stock will guard against viruses and fungal and bacterial diseases.
The winery has a capacity to produce two million bottles a year, making five Proseccos and a full range of reds and whites.
Giusti, the largest single owner of Prosecco vineyards in the world, names all his wines after family members.
“We export to 20 countries and our wines are now being acclaimed by top wine critics,” said the entrepreneur, who inspects his vineyard rows in a Range Rover and keeps his Ferrari for the open road.
“My life has never been work,” he adds. “I’ve always loved what I do, in any endeavour.”
It’s hard to imagine the always-energetic Giusti ever retiring. But a hint might have come when we visited the Nervesa Abbey, founded in 1000 A.D. and dedicated to Saint Eustace.
Giusti, who has a handful of honorary doctorates, has spent some $3 million renovating the abbey and creating a museum that attracts thousands of visitors annually.
“I love to paint,” he said in a room overlooking the valley. “Isn’t the view from here impressive?”
Footnote: Giusti will host the annual Downtown Sorrentino’s Truffle and Wine Dinner on Nov. 26. Wines will include his award-winning Amarone, a full-flavoured red with soft tannins and hints of plums, cherries and licorice.
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