Northshore Magazine

ing the American thing," Nicola says. "But we would go back [to Italy] for the full summer, and often for Christmas as well. You feel at home in both places, but you don't feel at home in either place." Fast forward 11 years, and Barilla was growing, building its own factories in the United States. No more need for import- ers. The company offered Papa Savignano a job running a plant in South Carolina, but he opted to move the family back to Italy instead. It was something they had always planned to do, but 11 years is longer for children than for grown-ups, and to the kids, the North Shore was at least as much their home as Italy was. "By the end of that, we were all very happy here and very well integrated," Nicola says. "It was exciting to go back [to Italy], but it was also kind of sad." The move from the place where they'd grown up coincided with the time when Nicola and Giuseppe were naturally in Italy and wine buyers in America—the brothers remain connected across the two continents they have each called home. "It really has been a nice experience to have an ongoing connection, not just, 'Hey, you called at Christmas,'" Nicola, 44, says of their partnership, which began when they bought the property, near the town of Pienza, together in 2006. "I really enjoy it." "He likes to come here, and I like to go to the North Shore and spend time there," says Giuseppe, 41. "It's good to have a foot in each place." The Savignanos came to America from Italy when Nicola was 7 and Giuseppe was 4. Neither boy, nor their sister, spoke any English. But their father worked as an importer and distributor for the pasta gi- ant Barilla; the family settled in Hamilton, and the kids enrolled at Shore Country Day School in Beverly (where Nicola now sends his own children). In no time, the kids picked up the lan- guage, made friends, joined sports teams. "While we were here, we were sort of do- Wine ne 148 nshoremag.com May/June 2014 Transatlantic Trade Nicola Savignano imports wine and olive oil to the North Shore and beyond. Above, Tenuta Santo Pietro in Tuscany comprises a 13th-century working farm and inn. photograph by zoe isaac ( bottom) KJ_NS MayJun 14 PSP.indd 148 3/27/14 5:05 PM

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