Dal Forno Romano

At 22 years of age, together with his new wife Loretta, Romano met Giuseppe Quintarelli who was to prove to be his guiding light: Giuseppe opened Romano’s eyes to a new way of producing wine and of planting vines, which made him concentrate on the importance of quality over quantity. In the beginning he experienced many difficulties but, thanks to the precious contributions of his sons Marco, Luca and Michele, Romano Dal Forno, in a relatively short space of time, was able to see his company rise to a high level within the world of wine.

It takes many years and lots of patience to accrue, process and summarise the deep knowledge of production procedures, of the instruments and of drying techniques which today we can safely say that we have acquired, and which we will continue to refine. The 1983 grape harvest produced the first great results for the company:  from this year onwards 22 vintages of Amarone della Valpolicella have been produced and 25 Valpolicella Superiore DOC.

An almost obsessive attention has always been paid to Recioto: the noble “Padre dell’Amarone” (The Father of Amarone). It can probably be said that up until now the finesse of our marketing and communication strategy has perhaps suffered – partly due to our passion for our family and product – as our desire for excellence has taken priority over that of growth. 

The belief shown in these values and the high consideration given to the essentiality of living everyday in the countryside, has allowed us, and continues everyday to allow us, to best express our talent in our work. We are enormously proud of the recognition received from consumers all over the world , however we believe that pride must never take priority over seeking to improve our product where viable.

The winery Romano Dal Forno is situated in the “Val d’Illasi” (Valley of Illasi), a valley to the east of Verona which, together with many others, forms part of the Lessini chain of mountains, that envelope the northern reaches of Verona in its embrace. The winery can be found in the middle of this valley, in a flat area close to the hills, which acts as a suntrap and which is dedicated to the production of wine and olive oil.

For years this land was managed in such a way that the vines were merely exploited in order to obtain high harvest yields. The mindset of the winery evolved and they readdressed their selection process and the reclamation of varieties, such as the decision taken to eliminate the Molinara grape whilst at the same time rediscovering indigenous  grape varieties that had long been neglected, which has borne fruit to the fundamental ingredients required for today’s production.

The construction of the Winery, along with the restoration of the house which is the business headquarters, began in 1990. The adopted style is that of a 19th century country manor that are numerous in Valpolicella, and for which Valpolicella is nationally recognised.

This particular architectural style was adopted in response to various fundamental necessities:  firstly to enable the building to blend in perfectly with the surrounding environment in which company was born, secondly, to represent in a coherent manner the business activities that would be carried out and, finally, to reflect fully the characteristics of the brand that it would represent. The winery, the centre point of the company, is intentionally synonymous with strength, longevity, respect for history and traditions.

“Youth is like bedding in plants, its fruit may only be picked once it has reached a certain age, just as viniculture needs time to bear its fruit.”