On summer nights, fresh air gusts arrive from the Saint Gottardo hill which, caressing the bunches sprayed by the sun during the day time, give aromas, colors and flavors to our wines
Pezzalunga is a narrow and deep strip of countryside in the municipality of Brendola, surrounded by the Berici hills crown and watched over by the “Rocca dei Vescovi”, up there on the Sommaripa, from its limestone spur that has rested on a volcanic base for at least a millennium. “There is some work that has to be done at Pezzalunga – my father told me, to distinguish that strip of land from the others – go and take care of it” and that domestic and intimate name remained stuck to that little piece of earth’s crust which for a hundred years has never stopped being the place of our work as winemakers. We are also fond of this definition: ‘vignaioli’, not winemakers, partly because we don’t like neologisms, but, above all, since “making wine” means being first of all “guardians of the land”. The industry does not belong to us, we like to cultivate, follow our vineyards and winemaking processes. We also put our character in the bottles.
We look far into the future, to leave a story for those who will follow
The result we want to bottle is the one of a living wine, a wine that can retain even a brief breath of wind from its production area. For this purpose it is necessary to know and respect the earth, its complexity, its mood, its inclinations. We accede to the philosophy of “Natural Wines” out of conviction – not out of opportunism – and out of lifestyle, loving balance and respect for every living form. We have learned from nature that she always manages with its know-how: she does not admit substitutes for herself, she has a plan for the future, indeed she has one for the existence of each of her creatures. So who are we to interfere with such an ancestral organization? We can only benefit from it, reading its design between its folds, inserting it at the service of a wine to be offered to ‘connoisseurs’ who are concerned that wine is a complex matter, which implies the participation of a thousand other subjects, from the earthworms that fertilize the earth to the saccharomyces that, in fact, are the main protagonists of the miracle that transforms sugar into alcohol.
Partiamo dalla terra, da quell’immenso laboratorio che calpestiamo con i piedi, ma dentro al quale ci sono tutte le risposte della vita biologica. Anche della nostra
We strongly believe that the affection and the involvement we feel for the Pezzalunga, has become part of the minerality; linked to the contribution from its geological history, the stones of volcanic origin and the calcareous ones, which from the seabed of the Tethys, 45 million years ago, were pushed up to give shape to the ridge of the Berici Hills. The roots of the vineyards are intertwined with those of our family, both stuck in the red earth obtained from the leaching of carbonates and the consequent accumulation of these clays in the more open areas, such as our vineyards which are located 155 meters above sea level. Here, protected from the winter winds by the crown of an ancient crater, the dominant color is the green of the lushness and exuberance guaranteed by the presence of a small spring that allows us to get through, even the most dry seasons, without problems.
Our land smells of forest, our wines retain the soul of the landscape that generated them, returning them in the form of scents, complex notes and pleasant persistences.
The living trees of alder and field maple pollarded between the vines as well as the hedges (of dog rose, wild blackberry, rowan) generate coolness, shelter for birds, and even when the leaves fall to the ground become the home of insects and food for the earth. Between the rows the grass is not cut but bent, because it preserves life and humidity, we don’t intervene mechanically with heavy vehicles, we let everything have its place. The goal is to find a balance between all the elements, even our animals inhabit the vineyard, they contribute to its fertility as well.
Wine is not just fruit and flowers, tannins and acidity, pulp and definition.
Wine is also a way of understanding life, on the part of those who make it and those who drink it
We have adopted the Guyot method for growing the vine. Pruning takes place after the end of the winter cold, strictly at sunset, when the plant’s energy is found in the roots and cutting the shoots leads to less loss of sap. We do not standardize the plants, each one is asked according to its vigor: those who have more will give more, those who have less will give less, the important thing is that they all give the same quality. We do not apply phytosanitary treatments, we intervene in spring by spraying the lower part of the stem with a decoction based on horsetail, to provide silicon and remove the powdery mildew fungus.