Gruppo Vinicolo Fantinel

Many restaurants try to author a high-caliber wine list that will pique the interests of their clientele, but few go so far as hotelier-restaurateur Mario Fantinel did. When he wanted to offer the customers of his Friulian restaurant high-caliber selections, he looked for top-quality vineyard land to start his own winery. That was 1969. Now, the Fantinel family operates a multi-tiered wine brand, the original restaurant (as well as a restaurant-hotel), and an extensive wine bar collection.

Fantinel’s efforts comprise multiple estates—including flagship Fantinel and boutique La Roncaia—that work to define Friuli’s complex terroir and highlight the distinctions among three of Friuli’s DOCs—Collio, Grave, and Colli Orientali. Each label is dedicated to evoking the nuances and tradition of a particular geographical area, to cultivating specific indigenous or international varietals, and to exploring a distinct stylistic orientation. 

Wine is an ancient feeling, a work of art making the world better. It is a mosaic of emotions, a masterpiece made up of precious stones wisely laid down, one next to the other, with genius, creativity and inventiveness. But a good creator knows that every artistic form is always born from the respectful celebration of the original Creation.
Honouring the land is the first vocation of Fantinel. A vocation having its pulsating heart in Tauriano, near the ancient village of Spilimbergo, town of culture famous all around the world for its prestigious Mosaic School. Here stands an elegant winery, dealing with the management of over 300 hectares of vineyards divided into the renowned Grave, Prosecco and Collio DOC zones.
Unique terroirs, privileged areas with microclimates ideal for the best maturation of the fruits and the highest expression of each vine variety, especially the valuable indigenous grapes. From these authentic treasure chests containing rare gifts Fantinel’s peculiar concept is coined: a viti-culture meaning a real culture of grape-growing. Because only a vine that grows according to natural rhythms, on the basis of the respect of the plant vegetative cycle and balance, can give birth to rich fruits and, naturally, to majestic wines: harmonious pictures radiating sun light, giving off the unlimited colours of the land.

Once upon a time there was a man with a radiant smile who venerated good food so much that it became his reason for living. And in such a joyful parade of pleasure, wine sat on the royal throne. As a restaurateur and hotelier in northern Friuli, Paron Mario soon realized that his mission was to give people emotions with his special love for wine and that, to do it fully, he had to produce wine with his own hands. 1969 was the year when he acquired the first vineyards in the Collio area, the year when the great adventure started. This engaging adventure soon featured his sons Luciano, Gianfranco and Loris as the protagonists.
The three turned their father’s teachings into virtues, learning to touch and feel the soil, follow the time and the flow of the seasons, taste the grapes getting a glimpse of the secret of their little-big miracle. In the following years the family’s land ownership increased and many dreams came true. That small agricultural company today, with the third generation represented by Marco, Stefano and Mariaelena, has become an internationally prestigious winery, ambassador of Friulian winemaking art in the world. But the origins have not been forgotten and, what’s more, the flame of passion is increasingly vivid.
Once upon a time a man, the first hero and author of a fable, wrote the first page signing it with an indelible imprint. Let’s savour this book entitled "Fantinel" ecstatically.