Cantina Valpolicella Negrar

Cantina Sociale Valpolicella was founded at Villa Mosconi, Arbizzano di Negrar, on 23 August 1933. Its founding members were Gaetano Dall’Ora, Carlo Vecchi, Giovanni Battista Rizzardi, Marco Marchi, Pier Alvise Serego Alighieri and Silvio Graziani.

Cantina Sociale Valpolicella was awarded a Certificate of Special Mention at the Brussels International Exposition in 1935.

1936 Gaetano Dall’Ora, the winery’s president, tasted some over-fermented Recioto that had lain long forgotten in the cellar. “Questo non è un Amaro, ma un Amarone!” (“This isn’t bitter, it’s a great bitter”), he exclaimed. His words named the wine that would become synonymous with Valpolicella.

1948, Cantina Sociale Valpolicella moved to nearby San Vito di Negrar and merged with Cantina Produttori della Valpolicella. The winery was re-founded with 80 members in its current Negrar headquarters in 1957.

In 1989 Cantina Valpolicella Negrar launched a comprehensive quality project that involved pinpointing Valpolicella’s best grape-producing areas and working alongside local producers to grow finest quality grapes.

2004, the winery’s Recioto Vigneti di Moron 2001 became the first cooperative winery Recioto to win the coveted “Three Glasses” awarded by Gambero Rosso’s Italian Wine Guide.

The Valpolicella Classica region is the home of our cooperative winery, cradle of the local grape-producing tradition and birthplace of the great wines with which it is synonymous.

The hills of Valpolicella Classica are a swath of lush woodland, marble quarries and marogne, the dry-stone walls used to terrace the region’s pergola vineyards.
Parish churches, country houses and old palazzos pepper the sleepy local villages and are characteristic of the history and architecture of the region’s five valleys: Negrar, Marano, San Pietro Incariano, Fumane and Sant’Ambrogio di Valpolicella.

The Soave region lies in the eastern part of the province of Verona and includes the municipalities of Soave, Monteforte d'Alpone, San Martino Buon Albergo, Lavagno, Mezzane di Sotto, Caldiero, Colognola ai Colli, Illasi, Cazzano di Tramigna, Roncà, Montecchia di Crosara, San Giovanni Ilarione and San Bonifacio. The soil of the Soave hills is mainly volcanic tufa with large pockets of limestone.

The Custoza DOC region is not especially extensive, but occupies much of the southern Morainic Hills, which skirt the city of Verona and Lake Garda. Southwest of the region lies the River Mincio. The region encompasses all or part of the municipalities of Sommacampagna, Villafranca di Verona, Valeggio sul Mincio, Peschiera del Garda, Lazise, Castelnuovo del Garda, Pastrengo, Bussolengo and Sona.

Nearby Lake Garda affords the Custoza region its hallmark warm dry summers and tempers its relatively cold winters.

The Bardolino region covers a vast swath of Lake Garda’s moraine amphitheatre. The DOC area comprises all of the municipalities of Garda, Bardolino, Affi, Cavaion Veronese, Pastrengo, Lazise and Castelnuovo del Garda, and part of Torri del Benaco, Costermano, Caprino Veronese, Rivoli Veronese, Bussolengo, Sona, Peschiera del Garda, Sommacampagna and Valeggio sul Mincio.

The Lugana region covers an area to the south of Lake Garda. It is mainly flat and its fertile clayey soil is rich in mineral salts. Its mild microclimate combines with the caresses of a cool Lake Garda breeze to provide perfect grape-growing conditions.

In winter, when the vines are dormant, producers decide how they will grow by modelling their shape, thus ensuring that grapes can be harvested later that year. In March producers finish binding the vines and check the health of the young buds in what is an important and delicate moment.

In April the vineyard awakens after its winter slumber amidst the white flowers of cherry trees. The vines bleed gently and their lymph begins to flow once more. In early spring, each vine produces its first shoots and sprouts leaves, which open to paint the landscape green. In May the vine takes shape and begins to flower. The small clusters open in an explosion of life that marks the start of a long journey towards ripening.

June bathes the growing vines in light. The flowers become green fruit that hide amongst the leaves, but they grow quickly to create bunches. In August, the Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella grapes turn a deep red. This proud beautiful colour gradually spreads to all the grapes as the bunches approach ripeness.

When sugar levels rise and acid levels fall, the grapes are ripe and producers set about hand-picking the best ones to make Amarone and Recioto. The cool, late-September air is filled with a grapey aroma, which mingles with the joy and excitement of the harvest.

As temperatures become milder, the leaves turn red, ochre, bronze, and then fall. The vines slowly prepare for their deep winter slumber.

Since 1933, Cantina Valpolicella Negrar has told the story of men and women devoted to the crafting of quality wines: the finest, sincerest expression of a region home to more than 700 hectares of vineyards.

Our grape-producers work with a smile, keen eye and dedication in a region that lingers in the heart. Cantina Valpolicella Negrar is historic cooperative winery with 230 members: families who work under the guidance of a highly qualified team as they live and breathe the poetry of a region that has been farmed with love for generations, the fruit of which becomes wine imbued with history and passion.

Our work, however, is not merely growing grapes and making wine, as we have always conducted research alongside institutes and universities in a bid to use the latest technology to combine increasingly better quality with a lovingly crafted product. All the work in our vineyards is carried out by hand in order to leave the local environment and its biodiversity unharmed, continue the winemaking tradition of the Valpolicella Classica region, and be the driving force behind both social and cooperative projects.

With great pride, generations of grape-producers have tended their vineyards and handed down the region’s history and culture on behalf of Cantina Valpolicella Negrar. They share in the joy of belonging to a cooperative winery staffed by people who love their home and make wine by emulating the tradition and beauty of this generous region.