The human factor amid the Breganze Hills

The Prima del Torcolato festival is an opportunity to get to know an area, in Pedemontana Vicentina, which is little known and has stories and passions to discover that seem from another era.

Here I would like to tell you about are area that is still relatively unknown, one made up of villages with their town squares and bell towers and homes set between the vineyards and the roads. Here you can find events, like the Prima del Torcolato festival, which are unique opportunities discover this territory, its people and wine.

The area is that of the Breganze DOC appellation, a small reality inside the Pedemontana Vicentina district that has always had a great winemaking tradition. The appellation covers 15 types of wine but the most famous and representative is Breganze Torcolato, which is made from dried Vespaiola grapes, this area’s traditional varietal. This enchanted area is set between the Astico and Brianza Rivers and is home to some of the most beautiful and majestic Veneto mansions.  Here I will not write about these but about how wonderful it was to discover the great attachment its wine producers have for their territory.

We are by now used to big numbers, to wine estates that are often small (which means big) holding companies but the truth is that Italy, the real Italy, is composed of producers like those you find in Breganze, who open their homes to you and tell you about their values and their future. And it is the younger generation who do this, while their fathers sit keeping a watchful eye on them by the fire. People like Firmino Miotti who listens carefully as his daughter Franca tells us their story, recalling how it is thanks to his generation that she is there and before them the previous generations who began with great effort to work the land. All this takes place during a county dinner made up of soups, legumes and cold cuts. The latter because eating pork is a well-known winter staple.

These people are used to waking at dawn, who never seem to tire and tell you about their daily lives and the beauty that surrounds them with pride and humility. People like Innocente della Valle from the Ca’ Biassi estate who with nonchalance tells you how on a clear day he can see the bell tower in Venice’s St. Mark’s Square.

Then there is Fausto Maculan and his daughters who live for the family and invest in the estate that feeds them. I was very envious because they were the confirmation that passions are what allow us to leap through life’s rings of fire.

Tasting a Charmat made from Marzemina Bianca grapes from the Vitacchio Emilio estate will make you smile and feel good when you hear them pronounce its suggestive name Sampagna with their distinct local accent. And its immediate and incisive fruity aroma and flavor will make you want to bring a case home because it is fitting for any occasion. Needless to say a bottle finishes before anyone notices because not only is it unassuming but also so good in every way.

While not well-known, important things are going on in this area with estates investing a lot in marketing and packaging but even more significant is an environmentally sustainable project that Marco Gottardi of Vignaioli Contra’ Soarda carrying out at his estate with a top restaurant that exclusively uses local produce and ingredients and has given a further boost to the territory. Many know this winery for its Vini Musso line of Musso Burrito and Musso Serafino Riserva, not to mention their elegant VignaCorejo Pinot Nero that is produced French-style and using French clones. This area is not known for this varietal but here it thrives in its volcanic soil and distinct temperature variations producing an extremely and surprisingly elegant wine.

@globetrottergourmet

#breganze #primadeltorcolato #vinopop