For this new episode of chats with producers, we remain in the Soave Classico area, right inside the walls of ancient Soave town. Here, Cantina del Castello is the only one that still makes wine in the historic center of the town, and this has profoundly influenced the type of production offered. Welcoming us were Stefanie, the winery’s hospitality manager, and Marco Carlesso, who took over the reins of the company in 2019. Marco himself guided us to discover the history and production philosophy of this small but precious reality.

The first word I would like to analyze together is HISTORY, because without a doubt due to the type of cellar and the structure in which you are located, you are inextricably linked to the historical events that marked the birth and development of the city of Soave.

• Yes, I could bore you for hours talking about it. Beyond the company, which was founded in 1961, the strong point is the building that hosts us, which is one of the most historic buildings in Soave. It is known as the palace of the Counts Sambonifacio, and the Sambonifacio who built it was a Knight Templar. There are still some traces on the back, some tombstones with their motto, that a historian noticed passing by about fifteen years ago. He was able to reconstruct the history of the building by going around libraries and historical archives. The building was connected to the castle by an underground tunnel, because at that time (we are talking about 1200) there were no walls yet, and therefore a safe passage was needed to move around. The underground part of the building has also always been used as a cellar, probably productive at alternating phases, but for sure even in the past wine was made here. The company as we know it today was born, as anticipated, in 1961, inaugurating the “modern” phase of the winery.

It is also interesting how you have re-proposed this past that you have behind you in all the renovation works that you have done in recent years.

• Basically, when we asked ourselves whether it was worth investing here or moving out of town like all the other wineries did, we made the bold move of staying here. So we dug the underground cellar, and it was a crazy construction site, because it required a certain amount of permits and authorizations. So we are still here, the last ones still making wine within the walls of Soave. And here we have the entire production cycle: delivery of the grapes, fermentation, refinement, bottling, and we get to the sale on the shelf, which is important for us first of all because of the very central position we have, and also because in recent years we have invested a lot in wine tourism, and people look for us because we are among the most attractive in the area.

In fact, the fact of having chosen to stay here has profoundly characterised your production style, remaining small producers.

• The idea is precisely that, commercially speaking, to saturate the production potential and stop there. The goal is to always reach sold out, ideally to finish a vintage even before the new one is ready. In this way we establish ourselves with a production that can potentially reach a maximum of 150 thousand bottles a year. More would be a problem. So also the fact of having created this new underground cellar is precisely to give more space to production. It all started because we wanted to renovate the square, so we presented a double project, for the square and the excavation of the cellar. We thought the project would have been blocked because this is an area subject to strict historical and landscape constraints, but it was accepted, and here we are. These new spaces have allowed us to reintroduce the barrel-aged Soave, which was already produced in the past, and to do something new with a wine aged in amphora. Since we have vineyards concentrated in a single geographical unit, we decided, through the different types of refinement, to enhance the different characteristics of the same wine. It is an educational and also fun way to make those who come to do tastings here understand how the wine changes based on the material in which it is refined: wood, steel or terracotta.

In fact, other words that I wanted to suggest to you, which are all connected to each other, are EVOLUTION, RENEWAL, and RESEARCH. Both from a production point of view, because it is interesting how you work on wines with different materials, and (getting back to history) I was very fascinated by the character of your great-grandfather, who you told us about the last time I came here to visit.

• Yes, in reality my great-grandfather has little to do with the winery, but he has a lot to do with the fact that there is still wine in Soave. Phylloxera parasite landed in France at the end of the 19th century and arrived in Italy at the beginning of the 20th century, destroying a large part of our wine heritage. Here in Soave the Cantina Sociale closed in 1928 due to lack of product, there was no one left capable of delivering the grapes to the winery. My great-grandfather was commissioned in the 1930s by the Ministry of Agriculture, assisted by the Conegliano school of oenology where there was an anti-phylloxera department, to find a solution to this enormous problem in the Soave area. The solution was found in the grafting of different clones of Garganega and Trebbiano onto American vines, which are able to defend themselves from this insect. My great-grandfather then planted these experimental vineyards, studying their yield and degree of ripeness, and after about ten years he identified the best cross for what was the knowledge of the time. From then on, vineyards began to be planted again in Soave. He was also the founder of the Consortium for the Protection of Soave wine, took part in the commission that identified the Classic area of ​​Soave, and, since he was also someone who loved life, he also founded the Grape Festival, which was not born to be a celebration of the end of the harvest, but was established to celebrate the return of the grapes in the area. We were unaware of the story of this great-grandfather, until when my grandmother died in 2002, my mother found a trunk with all the correspondence that allowed us to reconstruct the story of her grandfather.
  Innovation, on the other hand, is linked to the fact that, in the production part, in my opinion, all the technology we have available must be used. It is very romantic to say that we use 19th century instruments, but in reality, storytelling aside, wine is ultimately a food product and certain parameters must be respected. It is not that we have anything transcendental, simply a bottling line and a cutting-edge filtration system, which however allow us a lot of flexibility in production.

It is therefore interesting to see how, using different materials, the finished product changes enormously from the same raw material.

• This is also didactic, we return to a discussion related to scientific dissemination. Most people who come to do tastings do it blind, not having a real knowledge of wine and the world of wine. However, we have seen how this game, of making people understand how wine varies based on the material used for refinement, is appreciated.

You took over the company in 2019, and from what I have felt, having come here several times in recent years, your arrival marked a small revolution in the management of the winery. The offer of wines you had has also been significantly expanded.

• Precisely because we have made large investments in the winery, we are also able to make very small productions. With the new containers that allow us to make smaller masses, we are also able to diversify production more. Furthermore, in addition to the vineyards in the Pressoni area for the production of our Soave Classico, since my mother also has vineyards, I was able to buy grapes from her to also bring Valpolicella, Pinot Grigio, etc. to our shelves when there was demand.

Marco, if you want to conclude by adding something you would like to highlight…

• I really like that this place is open. For me, the biggest mistake of those who preceded me in the management of the winery is that in the years when the wine tourism market started and it was not yet regulated, so anything could have been done, they always managed this building like the courtyard of a house. And it is a crime because this is a museum. I am pleased that anyone who passes by here, even just out of curiosity, without necessarily buying a bottle, can come in and see the beauty of this place, that a mark remains inside them that perhaps even pushes them to return and share this experience with their loved ones. Ours is a very friendly approach, we like that when people come here, they relax. This is the key that we have adopted from the beginning.

If you are curious about discovering the beauties and the delicacies of Cantina del Castello, join one of our Soave and Amarone tours. We are waiting for you!

If you already know their wines or would like to taste them, you can find them on our online shop, and we will deliver them directly to your home!