Briganti Botti dal 1800

The first written testimonies relating to the Briganti family date back to a state of soul of 1637 drawn up by the Parish of Sala, at the time also including a portion of the current hamlet ofBagnarola di Cesenatico . The Friars of Santa Maria del Carmine of Cesena, following the huge bequests of land from the Malatesta family, had laid the foundations of the ""Tenuta della Bagnarola"", an important agricultural company obtained thanks to a powerful reclamation work on land that had previously been marshy. Inside this estate, on the Pisciatello river, still considered by some to be the true Rubicone, a water mill was built in 1505; with adjoining farmhouse for the millworker's family.

Ancient map of the Bagnarola mill

Precisely the state of mind of 1637 testifies to how Sebastiano Briganti, father of Domenico and Pietro Antonio, is resident in the mill house. A subsequent state of soul testifies that Domenico Briganti, brother of Pietro Antonio Briganti, the latter married to Anna Maria Bazzocchi, later lived in the same house. In 1687, Pietro Innocentio Briganti, married to Violanta Bardiconi, and Sebastiano Briganti were resident in the same house, and therefore also millers.

A broader testimony comes instead from a contract drawn up by the Benedictine monks relating to the rent of the ""Tenuta della Bagnarola"" (an extract in the image) which dates back to 1786 and which reads in point XXXIII: ""For the Mill, the Tenant will be required to maintain the usual agreements with the Molinaro present Vincenzo Briganti, being an ancient and deserving family (...)"". From a calculation not yet verified, the Vincenzo Briganti indicated in the contract should be the great-grandfather of Gino Briganti's grandfather.

Contract of 1786 for the Bagnarola mill in which Vincenzo Briganti is mentioned

While Gino's father was still working at the mill at the end of the 19th century, Gino Briganti chose another path and started working as a carpenter's boy of the workshop of a local craftsman called ""Frapètta"" from whom he learned all the secrets of the trade and whose daughter he married. In the village of Bagnarola, as in all small towns, carpenter was a profession that included the creation of a wide range of articles: furniture, carts as well as barrels and vats for harvest. Gino's ability put him in a position to open his own workshop after a short time.

Gino Briganti then began working with his sonAlfredo Briganti, the only son born after 4 girls, and transferred all his knowledge to him; in particular, cart wheels were one of the company's specialties. However, with the advent of cars, with a consequent reduction in the number of cart drivers in circulation, the turnover was greatly reduced and the harvest barrels alone were not enough to carry on the shop; Around the 1960s, Alfredo also thought about closing everything and emigrating to Switzerland.

Alfredo Briganti in the old workshop in Bagnarola di Cesenatico

He made one last attempt with the creation of small vinegar and spirit barrels and luck would have it that in front of the historic shop, on the road that over the years '60 brought tourists from Cesena to Cesenatico, some Modenese stopped. Having purchased and tested some battery barrels, they found them perfect for theproduction of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar. Word then spread in Modena, and then also in Reggio Emilia, of the cooper of Bagnarola who made small barrels perfect for the traditional Emilian black gold and the closure of the shop was averted. p>

In the meantime, Alfredo's sons, Silvano and Alberto, in turn learned the art of cooper making within the 4 walls of the small building in via Cesenatico 880, which many still remember today for the external display of barrels and vats on both sides of the street: both in front of the shop and, on the opposite side, in front of Alfredo's house.

New Briganti srl factory in Macerone di Cesena

At the beginning of the 90s the new production needs of a small company where the demand for vinegar barrels was growing more and more, led Alberto and Silvano to inaugurate a small new factory in the artisan area of ​​Macerone, where the company is still based, which in the meantime has significantly increased the initial spaces.

The company expanded its product range following the 2012 Emilia earthquake; the physiological decline in demand for barrels from the Modena and Reggio Emilia area has led the company to transfer the skills of the master coopers also in the context offurnishings made from wine barriques. The use of the internal drying oven for the stabilization of the artefacts, a unique added value throughout Italy and Europe, has made the furniture of the Briganti carpentry shop appreciated in a very short time in many public places of the entire peninsula that require robust and stable elements. A continuous search for original and functional furnishing solutions, as well as the possibility of almost unlimited artisanal customization, have allowed an increase in production accompanied, in 2014, by the recovery of the balsamic vinegar sector.

< p>As evidence of the miller's profession of the ancient Briganti family, still today at the intersection of via Cesenatico and via Campone Sala, in the hamlet of Villalta where the mill had moved in the meantime, there is a roundabout entitled ""Rotonda Mulino Briganti"".