We arrived at the ageing cellars of Tenuta San Antonio to mystified looks, and it soon became clear that we had been misdirected to the town centre. Wending our way up into the hills above Mezzane we arrived at the winery and were greeted by Paolo Castagnedi one of the 4 brothers who run the estate. Their father had worked 20 hectares of vines in the San Zeno di Colognola ai Colli district of Valpolicella, and in 1989 the brothers took the decision to buy a further 30 hectares with a view to setting up the current business. They had previously worked as wine consultants throughout Italy but decided that the time was right to produce their own wine.
The property is located 120 metres above sea level and climbs gently to 320 metres. The area enjoys an ideal microclimate and benefits from the cooling influence of Lake Garda. The soil is predominantly calcareous and quite compact. The soil is also very arid so 41B rootstock is used as this has good resistance to low water conditions. As well as the 50 hectares they own, they also rent a further 50 hectares.
The brothers decided right from the start to focus on quality (unlike many of their neighbours who aimed to maximise quantity) and ever since have remained faithful to certain principles: pruning to ensure low yields, careful handpicking, ensuring that the grapes are kept meticulously clean whilst they are transported to the winery. In line with the drive to pursue quality, the brothers changed the training methods in their existing vineyards from the traditional pergola system to more modern methods such as the spurred cordon. For newer plantings, Guyot is mostly used giving a density of 7,000 - 8,000 vines per hectare. The use of pesticides is kept to a bare minimum, irrigation is used only if absolutely necessary and green pruning is carried out.
Tenuta San Antonio has an annual production of around 400,000 bottles, of which 95% is exported to 27 different countries, though surprisingly at present they do not have a UK importer. Their production is split 80% red, 20% white. To preserve freshness in their wines they avoid too much extraction or skin contact, and in 2004 for ageing they started to use larger 500 litre barrels, all French oak from a range of forests.
We tasted 5 wines which all demonstrated that everything done in the vineyard and winery has paid dividends. The most interesting wine for me was La Bandina, which according to Paolo represents ‘the soul’ of the company. It’s a blend of grapes which changes from year to year, though always based predominantly on Corvina and Rondinella. The grapes are co-fermented as Paolo considers that this gives a true fusion of flavours (rather than an artificial fusion in the case of blending after the end of fermentation). The 2006 was awarded 3 Bichieri in Gameberro Rosso!
After the tasting we drove up to the vineyards above the winery where we enjoyed spectacular 180 degree views and could see for ourselves all the aspects of terroir which made these wines so special. Sadly, our schedule meant that we had to rush off to our next appointment, and our time here felt far too short.
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Cantina Di Soave by Lindsay Oram
Our last visit for Valpolicella took us to the lovely town of Soave and the Cantina Sociale. Founded in 1898 the Cantina di Soave manages 49% of the production of Valpolicella. It is one of Europe’s major wine companies with a turnover of €80million. They produce 30 million bottles, have 2,200 members and 6,000 hectares of vineyards, 70% of which are D.O.C and D.O.C.G.
Sales are focused on the supermarket sector (78%) and export (60%), with Great Britain being the second largest export market. The quality of the wines was reflected by the medals awarded at Decanter World Wine Awards and the International Wine Challenge this year. This included a gold medal for Cadis Amarone della Valpolicella 2007, very fruity and less complex than others tasted, but for less than £20 in the U.K, certainly affordable.
To ensure the level of quality, the Cantina has a monitoring system called ‘Sistema Alta Selezione’. This uses an advanced infrared control system where a laser beam passes through a sample of the must; the molecule vibrations are registered and compared to the expected values.
By using this system, the Cantina can monitor each grower, and also identify sub-zones within their 6,000 hectares that consistently give the best results.
The tasting was followed by a light lunch and a glass of sparkling wine to prepare us for the journey to Isonzo.
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