Poli Distillerie

A dream coloured red

It was at the end of the 1940’s when Toni Poli returned from the war with the title of captain of the Bersaglieri.

He immediately started working in the family business, and after a few years asked his father permission to buy a Moto Guzzi motorcycle.

The desire and Toni’s wallet would have suggested a Stornello 125 cc, but the surprise was great when on the 10^th of August 1950 his father, Giovanni, gave him a magnificent Moto Guzzi Airone Sport 250 cc.

A dream coloured red.

THE FIRST OUTINGS

On one of his first outings, Toni took along his friend Rino Cabion, then a manager of Banca Popolare di Marostica: a sudden acceleration knocked the passenger off the bike without Toni noticing it, intent as he was on savouring the legendary sound of the engine... it was only after a couple of km that he turned around and saw poor Rino chasing behind and shouting!

THE GRAND TOURS

Toni Poli’s motorcycle exploits are marked by many trips, two of which have made ​​history: 

the tour in 1951:

Schiavon - France - England - Belgium - Netherlands - Denmark - Norway - North Cape - Sweden - Germany - Austria - Schiavon

The tour in 1953:

Schiavon – Dalmatian Coast – Albania – Greece – Corinth Canal – Egypt – Libya – Algeria – Morocco – Strait of Gibraltar – Andalusia – Costa Brava – Schiavon

If one considers that at the time there were no mobile phones and no trip was "all inclusive", it must have been quite an adventure.

Fortunately, the Guzzi was hardy and Toni, a good mechanic, was able to solve the rare "technical" problems.

He met many people, their faces remaining in his memory, but at Nordkapp...

AT NORDKAPP

At Nordkapp a Lapp family asked him if he would like to sleep in a tent along with an pretty young girl, as a sign of warm hospitality.

Toni, however, a handsome thirty-year-old, preferred to decline the offer because the girl was all greased with fish oil: the head of the family considered it an insult, and Toni literally had to “flee”, chased by the angry Lapps.

After 10,000 km of adventures he returned home.

The party in his home town began with an aperitif, red like the Airone, created for the occasion.

The Airone Sport with Toni Poli has traveled many roads and seen many places: now it can enjoy a well-deserved rest and welcomes visitors to the distillery.

Occasionally Andrea, who has inherited his father's passion for mechanics, starts it up and the thundering dream lives on.

A dream coloured red.