Harvest 2018 – A Bumper Crop

September 24, 2018September 26, 2018Emma Bentley Leave a comment

Harvest 2018 is well underway and it’s looking like one of the very best years in recent memory for winemakers across most of Italy and France.

Despite a worrying amount of rain in the springtime and outbreaks of mildew/peronospora, the summer was hot, constant and mercifully allowed the grapes to come to maturity.

Largely because of last year’s frost but also because of this year’s gentle flowering season, the vines have produced a much larger quantity of grapes than usual.

So much so that winemakers have more grapes than they know what to do with! My boyfriend’s phone keeps ringing with nearby growers trying to sell him grapes because their cellar is already full. Theirs is full to the brim too!

Stamping down on the grapes in order to fit them all into the press!

Today, Monday 24th September, the cantina sociale of Gambellara (a small town near Soave) didn’t open its doors to its members because it needed a day of downtime to sort and make space. It has been completely overloaded and it’s not the only one.

It’s not hard to imagine how busy the cooperatives are when you watch the video below showing the street leading to one of the Prosecco coops. A traffic jam of tractors!!

There’s another video which has gone viral because it shows a man machine-harvesting his grapes but leaving them on the ground. “You realise this is a sacrilege,” the guy filming says to the driver of the tractor. Better than seeing them rot on the plant, is the unsaid message.

One of the consequences of having so many grapes on the plant is that the sugar levels remain relatively or unacceptably (depending on your point of view) low.

We’ve heard of prosecco vineyards near us which were harvested two weeks ago (i.e. early September) but which only yielded a sugar level of between 9 and 12 babo. That means between 6 and 9% potential alcohol. Insane.

What can you do? Well, like many quality winemakers, in the summer, you do what is called green harvesting. In some of Angiolino Maule’s vineyards, he removes 50% of his grape bunches in late June/July when he’s got an idea of how the year is going. Crop thinning allows you to manage the yields better; you lose quantity but you gain quality, sugar and complexity in both the grapes and in the resulting wine.

Alternatively, you can do what we know some conventional producers in Soave are doing this year: reverse osmosis.* In this case, you keep as many grapes on the plant as possible but once the grapes have been brought into the cellar and are being vinified, you pass the must through a membrane which separates some of the water content and allows you to concentrate the sugar. All the quantity and now a wine which you can bottle at an acceptable 12% ABV.

Where I am (in the Veneto, Italy) we’ve just about finished 40% of our harvest…. and we’ve been harvesting since the last few days of August. It’ll be at least another (long) three weeks until we’ve brought the last of the grapes into the cellar.

* n.b. I know that reverse osmosis is more commonly used for reducing alcohol content, but unless I’m mistaken, it can also be used for increasing the ABV.

In The Vineyards With: Laura Rizzoto (Balestri Valda, Soave)

October 19, 2017Emma Bentley Leave a comment

“I’m the wild child in the family,” claims Laura Rizzotto.

Balestri Valda is a relatively-recent, family-run winery, with vineyards and the cellar perched just above the town of Soave, in the Veneto of Italy.

I say relatively-recent but it is worth mentioning that the family are far from being newcomers. They are well-known locally and made their name as contractors specialising in sparkling wines. (i.e. if you wanted to make a wine in autoclave (prosecco-style) but didn’t have the means to do so yourself, you take your still wine to them and they’ll transform it.)

Laura and her father, Guido, work together on the Balestri Valda winery, while her brother and grandfather are still actively making bubbles for other local producers in Soave and the surrounding area.

The Balestri Valda cellar was clearly a huge investment; it is large and spotlessly clean. Currently 65,000 bottles of wine are made per year and it’s predominantly Soave Classico DOC.

The Balestri Valda cellar

At the end of 2016, Laura finished university and moved back to Soave. She’s taking an increasingly important role at the winery and she’s a huge believer of biodiversity.

“My father waits for me to go on holiday and the first thing he does is cut the grass!! It’s not good for the bees. They need longer grass.”

Photo (c) Laura Rizzotto

Yes, did I mention that Balestri Valda make their own mille-fleurs/millefiori honey?

Laura is bringing in several important changes to the Balestri Valda winery: firstly, that they are in the process of obtaining official organic certification.

Secondly, their new wine “Libertate” – is Laura’s pet project. It is made from Trebbiano di Soave only – a far call from the traditional Soave (from garganega grapes or a blend) – and vinified in amphora and stainless steel. They’re not quite natural wines yet – I’m used to wines with a little less SO2 – but if Laura gets her way, Balestri Valda is heading very much in the right direction! A winery to watch!

Balestri Valda website and Facebook

The Landscape of Soave

February 8, 2017February 11, 2017Emma Bentley Leave a comment

“Arguably, more than any other Italian wine, Soave is characterized by a pyramid-shaped production philosophy that puts a rigorously limited number of family producers at the apex and large, commercially driven cooperatives at the base. Depending on your point of view, Soave’s class-versus-mass dynamic is either its strongest selling point or its biggest weakness.” (Wine Enthusiast)

It’s hard to explain the realities of “Soave” to a newcomer. I don’t entirely agree with the quote above because it rather over-simplifies the situation. We’ve (fortunately) moved far away from the days of Soave Bolla and of insipid white wines costing next to nothing.

The Soave landscape of today is a complex mosaic of backward growers, established families and a dabbling of small, independent wineries, all of whom co-exist under a pervasive blanket of fog, which is the cantina sociale.

Within the Soave DOC (I’m taking the flatlands together with Soave Classico and Colli Scaligeri) there are close to 3,000 people who own vineyards (yep, three thousand growers).

Of these, 190 are what you would consider winemakers (in the sense that they make wine) and only between 50 and 60 actually bottle and commercialise their production.

That means that over 2500 local villagers (contadini) sell their grapes directly to the cantina sociale. (For the sake of strict accuracy, there are actually several active co-operatives in the area but for sake of this post, I’m only referring to the cantina sociale as a single, abstract entity.)

In 2016, the cantina sociale of Soave set a new record: they vinified over one million quintals of grapes. To put that into layman’s English, this means they turned one hundred million kilos of grapes into wine.

As easy as it is to poo-poo the cantina sociale, they provide a regular livelihood for many in this area. Without it, the region’s key industry would be wiped out overnight.

However, making such an absurd quantity of wine means they sell with very low margins. There is no denying that this extremely competitive price point has directly led to Soave’s reputation as a cheap wine. Personally, I point the finger of blame at their many labels, on which there is not enough transparency for the consumer to easily identify a co-operative wine from independent family wine.

Screenshot of the Cantina Sociale portfolio. n.b. a large proportion of their production is also red wines.

Speaking of the families…. don’t be fooled by attempts from the established families to convince you that they are small producers. They may bottle their own wines but they’re far from being small.

Pieropan, for example, makes 700,000 bottles per year. Gini has 55 hectares (135 acres) of vineyards. Their wines are some of the most prestigious in Soave but don’t let them pull the wool over your eyes. It’s a commercial operation.

There’s an ugly side to some of these established families too. The head of the Zonin family was, for 20 years, the president of the Banca Popolare di Vicenza and is now under investigation for fraud after allegedly mishandling over a billion euros and swindling four thousand account holders.

It’s not all bad news. There are true, small, independent wineries in Soave, much as those you find commonly in France. Because they don’t have the same resources as the cantina sociale or “the families”, they are not so easy to find… but watch this space, over the coming weeks, I’m going to identify them.

The more I think about it, once you look beyond the picturesque hills of Soave and their endless trellises, the image that the Wine Enthusiast should have used is not one of a pyramid but actually one of two triangles: one inverted over the other, showing the smaller producers being squeezed by the giants and the cantina sociale.

Part Two: The Terroir of Soave (coming soon!)

(All information contained in this article is to the best of my knowledge and in good faith. My sources include: Il Soave, local winemakers and employees of the Cantina Sociale. If there are any errors, please bring them to my attention by email or in the comments below.)

In The Vineyards With: Cristina, Gelmino and Andrea Dal Bosco (Le Battistelle, Soave)

December 9, 2016December 11, 2016Emma Bentley Leave a comment

In my attempt to visit as many of the small, independent wineries in Soave (there are not as many as you might think!) the next on my list was Le Battistelle.

The house and cellar for Le Battistelle are located near the village of Brognoligo, in the heart of the Soave Classico DOC, but on the eastern-facing side of the Soave hills.

Gelmino’s family has been working these vineyards for decades but it’s only been since 2002 that they started making and bottling their wines, rather than selling the grapes to the local co-operative.

He, his wife, Cristina (pictured above), and son, Andrea (below), showed me around.

Within the first few minutes, you realise that this is a small, entirely family-run entreprise, crafting completely hand-made wines. They have 9 hectares of vineyards of pure garganega, split between four different plots on the surrounding volcanic hills. These vineyards are perched on such steep slopes that most are impossible to pass through with a tractor.

Gelmino and Cristina strive to work without chemicals in the vineyard as far as possible, but are not certified organic because they want to maintain the possibility of using something stronger than copper in a bad year.

The vineyards are so precipitous that they become very dangerous after heavy rainfall (which is unfortunately when bugs and other nasties tend to propagate) and to be doing treatments every other day is simply not realistic.

This is apparently the “easy” vineyard!

Because the work in the vineyards is so laborious, the vinification in the cellar is very simple. There are just three wines: the most basic (“Montesei”), a reserve (“Le Battistelle”) and one with two days of skin contact (“Roccolo Del Durlo”). When the grapes arrive in the cellar, they are destemmed and pressed. The temperature-controlled fermentations take place in stainless steel with selected yeasts. The top two wines will stay on the fine lies for 6-8 months with regular batonnage.

Gelmino doesn’t have any wooden barrels and he doesn’t let the malolactic fermentation occur, meaning that the wines retain their fresh, fruity character and remain crisp and mineral. A perfectly classic Soave Classico.

What I haven’t mentioned yet (I’m saving the best for last!) is the age of the vines at Le Battistelle – some are a spectacular 100 years old! The bulbous base of the plant emerging from the volcanic rock, amongst all the fallen leaves and the pruned branches, was a treat to see.

As I’m tentatively making my way through the vineyard in pursuit of the perfect vine, Cristina tells me about an association (CERVIM) specialised in “mountain and steep slope viticulture.” Very deservingly, two of their single vineyards Le Battistelle and Roccolo del Durlo have been classified as “heroic viticulture.”

As a permanent reminder, the logo for Le Battistelle is a shoulder harness with two baskets, which was used until only very recently to carry out grapes from their vineyards.

The terracing makes it impossible to go through with a tractor.

Visit the website: http://www.lebattistelle.it/

Le Battistelle are also on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Visited: 5th December 2016

You can also follow me on Instagram…

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Harvest 2016: The Final Week

October 20, 2016October 26, 2016Emma Bentley Leave a comment

We are (finally!) approaching the end of Harvest 2016, up here in Castelcerino, in the Soave hills. It’s been by far the longest harvest that anyone here at the winery can remember. Since the 1st September, between 3 and 6 people have been hand-harvesting the 15 hectares, meticulously arranging the precious bunches of grapes into small boxes.

Looking Back Over Harvest 2016

The Preparations – starting the yeast pied-de-cuve.

Early September – at the beginning of the harvest, when I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Mid-September – at this point I still had plenty of energy and had concretised my place in the team.

End of September – with the end of harvest in sight, I was feeling tired but happy.

Boxes of picked grapes as far as the eye can see. #filippisoave #vendemmia2016 #pergolaveronese #soave #garganega pic.twitter.com/K2WLqMGL8I

— Emma Bentley 🇪🇺 (@emmabentley87) September 29, 2016

Continue reading “Harvest 2016: The Final Week” →

Harvest 2016: the second week

September 15, 2016September 17, 2016Emma Bentley 1 Comment

We’re approaching the end of the second week of harvest here – Day 12, to be precise – and I can’t tell you how exhausting it is.

I fall asleep at 10pm and dream about tractors and trailers until 6am when the alarm goes off and it all starts over again.

The Turbiana vineyard – the highest vineyard in Soave and completely surrounded by woodland.

The morning routine is so comfortable now that I don’t even need an espresso to locate the same old trousers, trusty straw hat, water bottle and my forbici (secateurs.)

We’ve moved from the guyot-trained vineyards to the more traditional Veronese pergola. It’s gone from being absolutely back-breaking (I even googled “hunchback” at one point) to being an Ironman workout for the shoulders.

The best thing about #Vintage2016 / #Vendemmia2016 is the #mortadella #sandwich break! 😍 (Photo: @paolagiagulli) pic.twitter.com/Gb8ALDJJ25

— Emma Bentley 🇪🇺 (@emmabentley87) September 14, 2016

The last two weeks have been seriously hot: over 30°C every day. However, today the weather changed dramatically and a heavy thunderstorm meant that we’ve had to take a break from harvesting. I’m now making the most of this overdue “down-time” to get bash away at my computer keyboard in a futile attempt to whittle down my burdensome inbox.

It’s also an opportunity to reflect on the past three weeks. Culturally, linguistically, and also personally, I’ve learnt so much in this short time.

If you’re planning on moving to Italy and/or learning Italian, there are two really essential verbs that I hear all the time here but which I hadn’t seen in the textbook:

spostare: to move something. i.e. we need to move the pallet – dobbiamo spostare questo bancale

=> spostarsi: to move (or relocate) yourself

buttare: to chuck or throw away. i.e. butta il grappolo – throw away the bunch

I’d always used gettare – because it is more similar to the French word jeter – but buttare is what I hear most commonly here.

There’s so much more that could be said but I’d better sign off this blog post and go back to the cellar to do the final rimontaggio (pump over) of the day.

Tasting wines just off the press. Photo to prove that not every wine tasting has a sexy or idyllic setting.

Harvest 2016: the first week

September 6, 2016September 16, 2016Emma Bentley 4 Comments

Harvesting started last week here in Soave. We’re not actually picking the garganega (the emblematic grape variety here) for at least another ten days but the chardonnay, merlot and trebbiano is done.

If you were wondering what life is like here at the winery, here is a run-through of my day today:

08.00 – I’ve just wolfed down breakfast, which, this morning, consisted of just a coffee and a couple of biscuits. My boots are on and my water bottle has been refilled; I’m ready to jump on the tractor and head out to the vineyard. Normally we start at 7am, but last night we got home at 1am (after the Soave Versus tasting in Verona) and such an early wake-up call would have been very difficult.

Until 13.00, there’s a team of five of us in the vineyards picking the last of the chardonnay grapes. There’s an experienced Polish guy, a local Italian, winemaker Filippo and his nephew (on work experience) and myself. The banter back and forth doesn’t stop. Continue reading “Harvest 2016: the first week” →

The Italian Job

August 25, 2016September 7, 2016Emma Bentley Leave a comment

It’s been a remarkably busy week. It’s the case for many people across Europe as they come back from holidays and go back to their office jobs. I always quite like this time of year because it’s full of good energy and many new projects are undertaken.

It’s a stressful week if you’re a winemaker because you’re carefully watching the weather and judging when to start the grape harvest. 2016 has been a disastrous year in France and I think most vignerons are just happy to have made it to the finish line. In Italy, however, it’s been a very hot and dry summer and it’s shaping up to be one of the best vintages of the decade.

For me personally, it was the week that I finally packed up the car and rode off into the sunset…

Well… except, in my case, riding off into the sunset means crossing the border between France and Italy. Continue reading “The Italian Job” →

A Forgotten Wine: The Sweet Recioto di Soave DOCG

May 16, 2016June 21, 2016Emma Bentley 3 Comments

When you think of Soave, you probably think of a tall, thin bottle of non-descript white wine in a cheap Italian restaurant. If you know your stuff, you’ll think of the market-leading producers: Pieropan, Gini and Coffele.

You’re very unlikely to think of the Recioto di Soave wine, a traditional passito wine which has been made in this area for well over a millennium.

Recioto di Soave was the first wine in the Veneto region to be awarded the prestigious DOCG title (Controlled AND Guaranteed.) That was back in 1998.

Nowadays, a miniscule 0.33% of the total Soave production is of the Recioto di Soave. (Statistic from i-winereview.) One third of one percent. Yep. Nada.

As a result, this is a wine that when you see it, you should jump at the occasion to try it. Continue reading “A Forgotten Wine: The Sweet Recioto di Soave DOCG” →

Back In The Vineyards (And Harvesting!) With: Filippo Filippi (Soave)

October 2, 2015May 18, 2016Emma Bentley 2 Comments

Castelcerino is a tiny village situated on the top of the highest point in the Soave hills. It also happens to be where Filippo Filippi lives.

There are two ways to get to Castelcerino. First is to go through the picturesque town of Soave, skirting the mediaeval castle but then tackling a series of perilous hair-pin bends in the climb up to the village. Alternatively, you take the low road a couple of kilometres further through the valley and then turn right, straight up the hill at a gradient which apparently averages +36%!

The first time I came to the Filippi estate was during Vinitaly for a dinner and my GPS took me and my colleague, Marco, up the hair-pin bends. The rental car struggled to get any grit and grind and I’m sure I uttered more than just a few swear words. A couple of months later, I came back with my veteran Renault Clio which subsequently gained the nickname “Super Clio” for its nippy performance up those bends. It was only after a few days that I realised that there was another far less cumbersome route.

I returned in the middle of September 2015 to get my hands dirty. Harvest started here a couple of weeks ago with the Chardonnay (for Susinaro), the Trebbiano di Soave (for Turbiana) and the Merlot. The Garganega, however, is being particularly problematic. It’s been very, very hot here this year. What rainfall there was, was too little and too late. Subsequently the sugar content is high but the grapes haven’t yet reached full maturity. A hail storm in mid-June didn’t help matters either and some vines are still showing signs of damage.

Healthy but not quite ready… Garganega turns a wonderful salmon pink colour when it is fully ripe.

While we wait for the Garganega, there’s still work to be done in the cellar. There is a rogue steel tank of Trebbiano which needs a remontage morning, noon and night. The Chardonnay is fermenting nicely… but looks like it will get to 13% ABV this year which is higher than normal (but not unusual, given how hot this year has been.)

Then there is the Merlot. In previous years, Filippo has made the Merlot into a rosato, under the name Roaron. All change this year as it will become a fully fledged red. It is currently sitting in what can most accurately be described as an over-sized bucket, in which we do a remontage and pigeage (with a large wooden stick) twice a day. “Country style,” Filippo says in English. “Hand-made in Italy,” we joke should be written on the label.

There are just four of us, doing everything from picking to pressing. Even though the Garganega grapes for the dry wines (Castelcerino, Vigne della Bra and Monteseroni) are still not going to be ready for at least another week, there is still harvesting to be done for the Recioto wine.

After each expedition to the vineyards, we stack the boxes in the cellar and leave the grapes to dry out. Meanwhile, we go back to that old routine: pump over the whites, punch down the Merlot, pizza. This was our regime – day in and day out.

You mean you don’t also have a bath tub in your wine cellar….?

On my final morning, I went back to check on the wines. The temperature of the troublesome Trebbiano has fortunately gone down to a more reasonable figure. The Merlot has finished its fermentation and we rack it into a steel tank. It has taken on a beautiful dark garnet colour.

It is so unbelievably peaceful here. As I sit in my make-shift office, with a truly stupdendous view over the adjacent Valipollicella hills and with Verona in the distance, I cast my mind back to the last few days.

Today's office. pic.twitter.com/Q7w0NhE1dF

— Emma Bentley 🇪🇺 (@emmabentley87) September 15, 2015

It was already pretty clear to me, but I’ve become much more convinced in the benefits of organic agriculture. (I haven’t read or experienced enough to have a completely reasoned opinion of if biodynamics are indeed even better, although I’m inclined to believe that they are.)

Just while I’ve been writing this post, I’ve spotted six different types of butterfly and had an UFO-insect fly straight into my chest and then spend a couple of moments, sitting on my keyboard, clearly concussed.

Even just a short walk through the vineyards will reveal a mosaic of wildflowers and herbs (especially mint, oregano and rosemary) as well as all the native grasses and even wild hops. I’m also astounded by how much wildlife there is in these woods; I’ve spotted deer, grouse and a snake and seen traces of wild boar. Turns out that wild boar like to munch on any low-hanging grapes… but don’t let the term ‘low-hanging’ fool you. They are easily capable of eating bunches which for me are at waist-height… and I’m five foot nine!

Of all the wineries that I have visited in Italy, the one that sums up true paradise is Tenute Dettori, with its restaurant overlooking the sea. A close second is possibly Andrea Occhipinti’s view over Lake Viterbo in Lazio. (Clearly I have a thing for water!) This, however, is nature.

As I wrote in the first blog post, half of the land here is untouched woodland. Filippo is first and foremost an agrarian and this is very much in evidence. The Turbiana vineyard on the top of the hill, for example, is comprised of two fields, each surrounded by trees and completely isolated. The wind in the trees is echoed by the buzzing of insects in the grass.

The soil is rich too; changing from basalt to clay to seabed within metres. There are grottos with natural spring water. This is the complete anethetis of industrial, modern winemaking and I love it.

As I am packing my bags, I remember a conversation with my colleague Marco in the car on the way up to Filippi the first time. He was explaining to me that Castelcerino was so isolated, perched up there on the hill, that Filippo rarely leaves. Marco’s words resonate with me at that moment. Castelcerino had become my haven too. I don’t want to leave.

Visiting Filippi (May 2015)

Making Recioto di Soave at Filippi (May 2016)

Filippi on Facebook

Last day but what a day! #vendemmia2015 #harvest #filippofilippi #soave pic.twitter.com/3ifvxRWu5G

— Emma Bentley 🇪🇺 (@emmabentley87) September 18, 2015

In The Vineyards With: Filippo Filippi (Soave, Veneto)

May 24, 2015May 18, 2016Emma Bentley 3 Comments

Billy is getting increasingly agitated. The smell of the BBQ is too much to bear. This is a rustic kind of grill and it always requires some time for it to reach the right temperature. Fortunately, now that the embers are glowing, the spare ribs, hamburgers and polenta are sizzling away.

There are four of us are sitting around the garden table, enjoying a magnum of Vigne della Bra 2006. (Incidentally, it was stunning and remarkably fresh!)

This is my first night staying here and we’re making small talk. However, it turns out that I had just made that very English faux-pas of not rolling my Rs enough. Trying to explain about a marinated meat (“carne“) that I had many times in Siberia called shashlik, it turns out that I had just said that marinated dog (“cane“) was delicious!

No wonder Billy’s protests had been becoming louder and louder. Billy is Filippo’s German Shepherd, in case you were wondering!

May 2015. Photo (c) Emma Bentley

Located a short drive east from Verona is the village of Castelcerino, which at 400m above sea level is the highest point in the hills of Soave. The Filiippi vineyards are situated just a couple of hundred metres outside the Soave Classico DOC area… so the wines are labelled Soave DOC or Verona IGT instead.

From where we are sitting, there are breathtaking views over the valley. Wave after wave of teal green hillside, which stretch for as far as the eye can see. Immediately below us are rows of vines which eventually resurface as the Valipolicella hills. It is so picturesque, it feels as though it has come straight out of a painting or an American feel-good film set in Italy.

May 2015. Photo (c) Emma Bentley

When we think of volcanic wines, our thoughts automatically jump to exotic islands like Sicily or Santorini. That Soave’s terroir is also made up of black basalt soil is harder to comprehend.

Filippo makes parcellaire wines – meaning that the names of the wine correspond to the precise plot of land from which the grapes have come.

In such a geologically-rich land, each of the different parcels have their very distinct typicities. Castelcerino, for example, has a very marked volcanic terroir; in contrast, the Vigne della Bra plot is made up of red clay soil. Vigne della Bra, with its south-easterly facing slopes, is also exposed to the softer rays of the evening sun.

May 2015. Photo (c) Emma Bentley

There are 14 hectares of vines in total and a further 20 of woodland and forest. A mountain source of fresh water flows down the hillside and, if you know where to look, hidden between the Monteseroni and Vigne della Bra, you’ll find a magical grotto.

At the top of the hill, completely surrounded by woodland, is the Turbiana vineyard, planted with Trebbiano di Soave. There is also Susinara, planted with Chardonnay in guyot. The Garganega (the most dominant grape in Soave) is planted in the Veronese pergola style. All the vineyards are worked organically.

The amount of bird song you hear in this enchanted place is astounding. From the very first rays in the morning until nightfall, there is an audible tapestry of cuckoo, pigeon, swallow, woodpecker, everything…

May 2015. Photo (c) Emma Bentley

Moving into the cellar, this is natural winemaking so only indigenous yeasts, no enzymes and minimal sulfites. The whites ferment and age in large stainless steel tanks, where they will stay, by and large, for 18 months on the lees (obviously, this depends on the bottling and the particularity of each wine and its vintage.)

Filippo’s first vintage was 2007 but previously he had been working alongside his brother (N.B. the brother did the winemaking, while Filippo did the agriculture.)

Filippo himself is a fantastic character. At first, he’s a bit of an enigma. Age-less. Larger than life. He’s always laughing – either at a joke or a funny turn of events. Simple things seem to amuse him. It’s an energy that is immediately conveyed to those around him. Once you get to know him better, you realise that this energy is like an aurora. It’s magnetic.

One of my most vivid memories of him from this trip was of him trudging through the courtyard, muttering “piogg, piogg, piogg..” (rain, rain, again…) He was clearly frustrated that he couldn’t get on with his work but the tone of voice was almost childlike.

Normally, I only take one photo of the winemaker to illustrate the blog post but for Filippo, because his expression so often, I felt I needed three!

Harvesting at Filippi (September 2015)

Making Recioto di Soave at Filippi (May 2016)

Filippi on Facebook

Got Legs

A Wine Blog from Emma Bentley Vino

Tag soave

Harvest 2018 – A Bumper Crop

In The Vineyards With: Laura Rizzoto (Balestri Valda, Soave)

The Landscape of Soave

In The Vineyards With: Cristina, Gelmino and Andrea Dal Bosco (Le Battistelle, Soave)

Harvest 2016: The Final Week

Harvest 2016: the second week

Harvest 2016: the first week

The Italian Job

A Forgotten Wine: The Sweet Recioto di Soave DOCG

Back In The Vineyards (And Harvesting!) With: Filippo Filippi (Soave)

In The Vineyards With: Filippo Filippi (Soave, Veneto)

Pricing Guideline