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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

Epiphany 2013

posted on 6 January 2013
Yes, here I am again, now that the Befana, the traditional Good Witch of the Epiphany, has landed. She is bearing you, along with Diego, a full load of our warmest wishes for the New Year, and I personally wish that I too could bring you presents, but can you just picture a Befana scattering bottles of wine while trying to fly her broom at the same time?! So it’s better for the moment that the bottles continue to rest in the cellar, and that way they will be here for you when you come–invitation!–to visit us over the course of 2013 to taste them with us. Now, as far as what’s coming up in the near future …

Harvest 2012

posted on 8 October 2012
It’s incredible: it seems as though we barely finished the 2011 harvest and here we are already at the end of this odd, totally crazy 2012!!! Yes, odd, since what else would be the right word to describe a growing year that started off with such a mild, dry winter that there was no snow, not even on the mountains, followed by a rainy, wet spring that created no lack of problems in the vineyards, which were trying to flower, then all of a sudden it was summer, and one of the hottest of recent years to boot? Hot and dry that is, until heavy rains came during the last stage of the growth cycle. So, changing environment, creeping tropicalisation of our climate? Who knows, but our job as winegrowers, and it isn’t an easy one, is to interpret as best we can what nature sends us, and so…

Crazy weather!

posted on 6 June 2012
Greetings to all of you, just a few months after our last newsletter, here we are again, right in the middle of a new growing season. “We just don’t have real seasons anymore,” has become a set-phrase overused by almost everyone, but it certainly is right on the mark for this crazy start to 2012! December and January were cold and dry, then February was freezing, followed by a March that was almost summer-like. Heavy rains and snow arrived only in late spring, with temperature swings of as much as 10-15oC between one day and the next. All of this crazy weather nevertheless brought the vineyards into very fine growing conditions, with growth that is quite vigorous, maybe even too much, since the vines are keeping us running to keep everything balanced and to monitor the crop.
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