From the classica zone of Valpolicella, high up in the comune of Marano di Valpolicella at circa 350m asl on ancient Eocenic sedimentary limestone, sandstone & red volcanic basalt soils, is found the tiny 3ha CàMatta estate belonging to Alessandro Lonardi.
Schooled as an agronomist, with a passion for Recioto, Alessandro is the first generation to bottle his family’s fruit, having working alongside his nonni since 2007; these days he’s helped by his compagna Susan & son James. He released his first label in vintage 2012, converting the vineyards to organic in 2016 (certified in 2019). He works only with pergola veronese (offering protection from the sun, hail, & deer!), & is fortunate to own vineyards dating back to 1964, along with more recent plantings in 1987 & 2015. He tends eight vineyards in total, all in Marano, notably in the crus of Tenda (exposed & warmer) & Purano, cooler thanks to being higher up. One of his prized local varieties for making his Recioto is the Rebo grape, rich in colour & zucchero!
In 2015 he completed a smart new cantina, complete with vertical, static, stainless fermenters, botti grandi & tonneaux. He’s helped in the cantina by Enzo Bertolazzi, an enologo from Alto Adige. He uses the oak judiciously, while employing selected yeast for more control. Total sulphur is approx. 65mg/Litro. Production is currently only 10k bts/anno. He bottles with technical twin-disc & natural cork closures from Portokorc.
This traditional, family-owned estate – initially by the Jago, then Albasini & currently Spinosa family – dates back to 1860, & is set among gardens of the fine 19th century Villa. And since 2017, Enrico Cascella Spinosa has been joined by his nepote, Piergiovanni Ferrarese.
The property comprises c.25ha located on the western flank of the Negrar comune, & on the border with Marano di Valpolicella. La Valle di Negrar lies on the east part of the Classica zone, at c.400m asl, hence higher & farther from the warming influence of the Lago di Garda further west. Soils are a mixed of sedimentary ancient calcareous stones, sandstone, flint & volcanic red basalt.
Starting in the 1990s, the vineyards have been re-trellised from 1.8k/ha pergola to 4k/ha guyot. In 2018 they completed the new, underground cantina & bottaio, where they age the wines in 5yo french tonneaux & Garbellotto 20/25 HL botte.
The wines are traditionally made, using static, vertical, stainless-steel fermentors. Appassimento of the local Corvina Veronese, Corvinone & Rondinella grapes takes place on the premises.
Native ‘Negraresi’, the Mazzi family can trace their history back to the early 1900s, & is descended from the local Dall’Ora family; their fine casa & mulino/mill date from the early 1800s, & the 8ha of vineyards were inherited directly from the Dall’Oras.
Roberto Mazzi began bottling their wines in 1958, & now his sons Stefano (nato ’65) & Antonio (’68) continue his legacy, with Stefano joining in 1987 & Antonio in 1990; Stefano is responsible primarily for the vineyards, having graduated as an Agricultural Engineer, while Antonio studied modern languages (English & German). The cantina is found on the eastern edge of the town of Negrar, just below the cru of San Peretto. Indeed, prior to renaming the cantina after the family in 1979, the winery was known simply as ‘Sanperetto’.
Their vineyards are centred round the Negrar crus of San Peretto, Poiega, Villa, Castel, & Calcarole (for the Recioto); they also now have some vineyards in Marano for the Valpolicella Classico. They take the ‘lotta integrata/lutte raisonee’ approach to working their vines, grassing over, using a ‘freisa’ to clear the area under the rows, cutting the grass & not using any anti-muffa chemicals. No irrigation is used.
Their vinification approach is quite technical, with the emphasis on fruit expression thanks to guyot-trellising, pre-ferment cold soaks & relatively short 10-20 day, roto-fermentations (since 2015) at controlled, lower temperatures using selected yeast to retain the freshness of their grapes (& to help achieve dryness): Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella & also Molinara for acidity. The wines are aged mostly in barriques from Radoux, plus some 16HL botte grande made locally by Mastro Bottaio. Total sulphur levels at bottling are at circa 90mg/Litro.
Sadly Roberto Mazzi passed on in April 2020.