newsletter

New Valtènesi DOC 1 September marks the official release of our first vintage of Valtènesi DOC, 2013. In point of fact, Cantrina’s Valtènesi is not a new product, since it simply takes the place of Groppello, with the same 100% of that variety and the same label design (in which the term Valtènesi replaces the name of the Groppello grape), but the change gives increased importance to the name of the growing area in which we live and produce our wines. It will just take a bit of time to get used to the new name and to communicate the message about the growing area, before that of the grape variety. Turning to the specifics of the wine, our Valtenèsi 2013 spent an additional 3 months in the vat before bottling, compared to previous vintages of Groppello, allowing us to produce a more complete and distinctive wine, one that will stand out better for its elegance and refined spice.Those who are interested in the production code for the Valtènesi DOC can click on this  link. Organic farming on the horizon After years of discussion, July 2014 marked the beginning of our conversion to organic viticulture. This transitional period will last three years, during which we will be managing our vineyard organically, and if all goes well, we will receive organic certification for our wines starting with the 2017 vintage. We took this decision only after evaluating with great deliberation every technical aspect of the subject and only after we were sure that we could put into effect everything required by certification. We have only two small parcels and they yield everything for our production and our business, so it is no small matter to modify our vinification processes and vineyard management practices. Organic methods are certainly more respectful of the environment, but they do carry some risk with respect to ensuring a crop, particularly in difficult growing years such as the current one. Cristina and Diego