linea

newsletter

cantrinaventianni

20th Cantrina's anniversary

posted on 19 February 2019
Here we are again with our newsletter to start out the year, and as you’ve already noticed, it arrived a bit later than usual, since we decided to let Befana fly unannounced this year… But 2019 will be, in fact, a memorable one for us. For it was in “long-ago” 1999, amidst countless apprehensions, much enthusiasm, and just a pinch of bravado, that we decided to launch “Project Cantrina”.
It represented above all the long-time dream of founder Dario Dattoli, who since the early 1990s dedicated himself to producing just handful of bottles—but made with meticulous care!—for his own enjoyment in his numerous restaurants.So here we are at our 20th ANNIVERSARY of managing this winery, the 20th milestone from our foundation, years that you, our friends and customers, have followed so well with us.
Yes, a lot has changed over the course of those 20 years! We started out by spreading into the spaces under the house, then finally succeeded in building our new cellar in 2004, which has been made even more efficient and functional over recent years. The vineyards, too, saw their own changes: the varietal mix was significantly altered, and vineyard practices improved, so that here we are today with a full eight hectares in organic viticulture.And you noticed that our wines evolved as well, with our 1999 “first child” Riné-Nepomuceno-Sole di Dario being joined by other offspring: Zerdì, Groppello alias Valtènesi, Rosanoire. This process of gradual research and innovation brings forth another new wine this year, VALTÈNESI CHIARETTO DOC, made of 100% Groppello. Chiaretto is well on its way to becoming the wine that best represents our growing area, and so we thought it right to join our fellow producers in the Valtènesi and produce a Chiaretto ourselves. There are only 3,600 bottles of this inaugural vintage, and the label will be obviously in full Cantrina Style. Many of you will recall that in the past we produced just a few bottles of a 100% Pinot Noir, CORTECCIO, a wine whose last vintage was 2005.
In 2017 we decided to vinify a small part of Pinot Noir exclusively in steel and liked it so much that we wanted to bottle and release it. There is a limited number of bottles (only 660), which makes this a deliciously appealing wine for our friends, customers, and all you lovers of Pinot Noir and Cantrina! Meet us!
At Vinitaly, in April, from 7th to 10th, we’ll be at a stand that we are sharing with Cascina Maddalena di Lugana in Booth 8 in the FIVI space.
WEB: We are working on a new website, which will obviously be realized in our “exercice de style”
Cristina and Diego

Ready for the new season!

posted on 20 March 2025
With spring at the doors, we’re happy to send you some brief news items about what’s going on at Cantrina. It’s certainly no longer novel, but we’ve had the umpteenth mild winter, an aspect of climate change that we have been seeing for years now. This year, though, conditions were unusually wet and tedious, with drizzles in autumn that lasted for months. They didn’t harm the health of the vines, but conditions were certainly unpleasant for those in the vineyards doing the winter pruning. In a few days, finally, after two years, we will complete planting our new vineyard, on land we recently bought. We are anxiously expecting the initial crop—in harvest 2025--from the first vines planted in 2023.

Story of a season

posted on 30 October 2024
It’s been quite some time since our last newsletter, since we’ve had so many things to do. Plus the fact that this growing year, just concluded with our 2024 harvest, was certainly not among our easiest, particularly for those like us, who have chosen to farm organically. The months have sped by, and here we are just now finding the time to catch you up on what we’ve been doing.

Harvest 2023

posted on 22 November 2023
It was a year of very hard work. Bad weather dealt us repeated blows, first with heavy rains all the way through the spring and a good part of the summer, then with torrid heat in late July and early August. Nonetheless, we were successful in bringing a satisfactory crop into the cellar, both in quantity and quality.
1 2 3 16