Producing classic wines from the Veneto is our passion. In the 1950s Giuseppe Inama, the estate's founder, began purchasing small plots of vineyards in the heart of the Soave Classico region using nothing more than his savings - at that time, few understood the area's potential. But Giuseppe was a believer. His idea was to assemble only top quality vineyards of old-vine Garganega and fashion from them a wine capable of restoring Soave's reputation.
Today our estate comprises more than 25 hectares of vineyards in the very heart of the Soave Classico. In the 1990s we decided to expand our production to include red wines and, after much research, settled on the Colli Berici, a system of terrarossa hills some 15 kilometres (10 miles) east of Soave in the neighbouring province of Vicenza. At first glance the two zones appear to have little in common but they share one fundamental element: the possibility to produce wines reflecting a unique terroir.
Each terroir is best expressed through a different variety. In the Soave Classico appellation the steep hills and the meagre basalt soils are carpeted with Garganega. An intensely aromatic variety, it was first planted here by the Romans and was originally known as "Grecanicum", a reference to its Greek origins, although it arrived here from Sicily via Campania where its cousin, Greco, is still widely planted. Isolated from its family, it gradually mutated through hundreds of generations. The name changed and so did the vine: its current, floral iteration gives voice to the inimitable blend of Alpine and Mediterranean influences found in Soave.
The story of the Colli Berici is a similar but more modern tale and is even more exciting. The mineral-rich terrarossa here was colonized with Carmenère in the middle of the 19th century by emigrants returning from Aquitaine. In those days jobs were scarce and many agricultural workers followed the harvest around Europe, inevitably finishing the season in northern France. Bordeaux was in its heyday and cuttings of Carmenère, a popular grape, were willingly brought back to the Colli Berici. Fast forward 150 years and Carmenère is already considered a local variety in the hot, dry climate of the Colli Berici. In fact, our plants are beginning to show subtle differences from their French relations. Who knows what it might be called in another millennium?
City
Verona
Veneto
Veneto is among the foremost wine-producing regions, both for quality and quantity. The region counts over 20 DOC zones and a variety of sub-categories, many of its wines, both dry and Spumanti, are internationally known and appreciated. The three most well known DOCs are Bardolino, from the town with the same name and surrounding the shores of Garda Lake, Valpolicella, and Soave. Other noteworthy wines produced here are the white Bianco di Custoza, the excellent sparkling Prosecco, the Breganze, and the Amarone (a rich and powerful red from the Verona province). If you travel to the Treviso area, look for the little-known Clinton, a wine that is banned from distribution because it does not conform to the DOC standards, but is produced in limited quantities for local consumption. The importance of winemaking in this region is underscored by the creation in 1885 of the very first Italian school for vine growing and oenology. In addition, Veneto was the first region to constitute the first strada del vino or "wine road". This first wine-touring road featured special road signs providing information on vines and the wines they were made into and joined the Valdobbiadene and Conegliano DOC zones crossing a series of hilly vineyards. The most appreciated wines in the region come from the provinces of Treviso, Verona, Padova, Venice, and Vicenza. The area around Verona, with its temperate climate and hilly surrounding, is believed to have cultivated grapes since the Bronze Age.
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