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Happy New Year to all!

posted on 24 January 2023

Once again, we find ourselves confronting another challenging year. True enough, Covid is finally largely behind us, but there is still a general climate of uncertainty, underscored by the war at Europe’s borders, whose impact is anything but negligible. The opening weeks of the year bring all of us the opportunity to renew our resolutions and launch new projects. We all must face our problems with optimism and hope, doing our own part with commitment and honesty. And now, on to what is happening at Catrina and what we’re planning…

HARVEST 2022 The 2022 harvest was certainly a great surprise, given the unfavourable weather that preceded it —a dry, hot summer— with far better results than we expected. After a full three years marked by hail and freezes in the spring, we were finally gifted with a fairly good-quantity crop, but what really surprised us was the excellence of the grapes, which promised wines of truly impressive quality, particularly for the reds. In addition, we’ll now be able to build up some reserves in the cellar and be able to bottle a bit more than we expected.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS After years of planning, we’re finally ready to install a small solar panel array, which will give us near-total electrical energy independence. We have wanted this for a long time now, for reasons of environmental sustainability, but the current overall energy situation, with sky-high energy prices, has made its use absolutely indispensable. We have also decided to install an irrigation well, to supply emergency irrigation for some of our vineyards in drought years such as we saw last season, and we will start construction as soon as possible, hopefully before the coming summer. Finally, the latest news is that we just signed a lease agreement for about a hectare of land, quite near our winery, where in the next 2-3 years we will plant a new vineyard to boost our production.

NEW WINES Ever faithful to our business motto of “Personal expression of style,” we decided to bottle two very distinctive and unusual wines, Valtènesi 2020 and an uncommon selection of Nepomuceno 2016.

An elegant version of Valtènesi Chiaretto, dubbed Myroses 2020, in 500 litre used French oak barrel, which imparted significantly more complexity than our standard Chiaretto, as well as a seductive elegance and hints of spice on the nose, an almost golden hue, and a palate that is simply pleasure personified.

Nepomuceno limited edition 2016 is a wine that we have been planning for quite a while, but it had to wait for just the right growing year to see the light of day. We selected lots of the finest red grapes from our estate vineyards for a very special edition of our Nepomuceno. That vintage turned out to be 2016, and it gave us a little less than 1,000 bottles. It matured about 4 years in new oak barrel and spent an additional 18 months in the bottle: a “super nepo”, as you could call it.

We want to let you know that Nepomuceno 2018 has been available for some months now, and that Riné 2020 Organic wineOur supply of Zerdí 2019is almost gone and the 2020 will be released soon. Sole di Dario , one of our most prized wines, is extremely challenging to make at the quality level we demand, so it is simply impossible to produce it every year. Furthermore, the quantities are always limited, since the Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc grapes are carefully dried in a special drying room for a minimum of two months, with a final yield of only 30%. The 2019 vintage is now gone, so we have to patiently wait for the 2021 to be ready, in all likelihood in spring 2024.

On February 14th we will release Valtènesi Chiaretto doc 2022 and Rosanoire 2022. In March, we’ll bottle the superb Groppello 2022, that will be available in April. 2023. UPCOMING EVENTS On February 17th, come meet us at the wine tasting of the European Tour of Gambero Rosso 2023 in Copenaghen. On March 6th, you can enjoy the official La Prima del Valtènesi Chiaretto annata 2023, organised by our Consorzio di Tutela Vini DOC at the gorgeous Museo Mille Miglia in Brescia. From April 2nd to April 5th we will be at from 2 through April, will see us in Padiglione 8 in the VINITALY, in the FIVI area. FIVI. Vinitaly is always a superb opportunity to meet with wine professionals from all over the globe, and to taste all the new releases. Cristina and Diego

Harvest in Cantrina

posted on 8 October 2009
Here we are almost at the end of the harvest (we still have to pick just a tiny part of our grapes and press those that we have set aside for drying) and so, strange as it may seem, it’s time to take stock of the overall situation once again. It was a precocious harvest for the early-ripening grapes (Pinot Nero, Chardonnay and Sauvignon), due to early flowering in the spring and very favourable weather during the summer. The picking time for Merlot, Rebo and Marzemino was more in line with the norm, thanks to a fine September with cool nights and rain-free days. The health of the grapes and the first analyses of the new wines allow us to rate 2009 as a good year. Only time will tell us whether it will be an excellent vintage: yes, time, which is much more truthful than all those exaggerated proclamations we tend to be bombarded with each year as the harvest approaches…

Let’s talk about…Vinitaly 2009

posted on 20 March 2009
vendemmia 2019
Here we are getting ready for Vinitaly 2009, even if it seems to us less and less like a fair that is appropriate for small producers like ourselves: amid all the hustle and bustle of this great event it is difficult to explain to people about our “open-minded exercice de style”. This year, therefore, we are concentrating on alternative methods of getting together with our friends (let’s hear from you!). However, if you are at Vinitaly on 2nd and 3rd April you can find us in the Lombardy pavilion in the PalaExpo on stand C7. If you so desire, we will be able to give you more details about our new releases, which we will merely outline below: Groppello, an indigenous grape variety of the Valtènesi, has become a part of Cantina’s range; with the 2008 vintage we have sought to express and interpret the potential of this cultivar in line with our particular philosophy of production. Rinè 2007 will have a new label, which will also reflect a few small changes we have made in the wine itself. Incrocio Manzoni is the new grape variety that gives this wine a stronger identity.

Cantrina from the old to the new year

posted on 20 January 2009
2008 is now just a memory: it gave us cause for concern with its rains in the spring and then cause for satisfaction with a late summer and early autumn that were ideal for ripening the grapes. The harvest then took place in cool, dry weather conditions: this, together with our efforts to keep down yields, allowed us to pick healthy grapes with a good sugar/acid balance. The resulting wines combine concentration with very fresh aromas and flavours, suggesting that they will have excellent ageing potential. 2008 was also a year for reflection. We thought long and hard about the type of wines we produce, constantly asking ourselves the same questions: “Can we express our terroir even without using indigenous grapes?” and “Can we demonstrate that quality and personality are independent of autochthony?”
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