1. America Oggi
America Today
An Italian newspaper published in the
United States.
Margiotta, "The Wine Comes First"
By Pietro Porcella
January 31, 2016

3. America Oggi
America Today:
A daily Italian newspaper printed in
the United States.
January 31, 2016
By Pietro Porcella
Translated by Tony Margiotta
Margiotta, "The Wine Comes First"
Tony Margiotta, distinguished gentleman in Manhattan, is an importer and distributor of particular
wines. He created his company, specializing in native wines from small wineries in Southern Italy
(www.GladiatorWine.com). “I am the son of an Italian immigrant from Molise ­ Tony explains in
good Italian ­. My father’s parents had their vineyards in the Molise countryside and I grew up in
Delaware in a great wine culture. I remember from a tender age that the table never lacked a
good glass of wine when we sat together at dinner and my parents talked about the quality of the
wine we were drinking. They were always searching for the best wines and my father also
opened a small store that sold liquor, beer, and wine.”
Tony doesn’t stop with his memory, while uncorking one of his exclusive bottles in the “tasting
room” of his office located at 31 Penn Plaza behind Madison Square Garden: “I grew up watching
my father working with passion in his little store and it was there that the idea came to me to
create my own business as an importer and distributor of fine wine. Specializing however in
native wines from South Italy, from Rome to Sicily.”
By researching the best wines from small wineries in South Italy, Tony keeps his roots and it
helps him feel close to the homeland of his father and grandfather. He learned some Italian
growing up and speaks it with an American accent. He converses correctly and with taste with his
friends that hang out at the meeting places of the New York Italians and Cagliari Club New York:
“I decided to specialize in small wineries that make native and authentic wine, rather than
meddling in the saturated market of big industrial wines that lose quality with high­volume
distributions. Instead, during my frequent trips to Italy, I identified small wineries in Sicily, Puglia,
Calabria, Molise, Campania, Basilicata, and Lazio that made wine with mastery because of the
hundreds of years that these artisans took care of the special relationship with their grape
varietals and their land. This is the reason I only support small wineries and I bring them to the
best restaurants in Manhattan, these truly special and unique wines. I want their customers from
the first sip to be able to distinguish the quality of a wine grown and bottled with a character and
unique taste linked to my land of origin. And it can only come from the part of the world that we
love.”
Cheers Tony, good luck with your project. I’m sure that your tasting room will always be more
crowded.