During my last trip to Veneto I had the opportunity to visit a place that I had known for years but only through the glass, as I had never been able to directly delve into the dynamics of the vineyard and cellar. I’m talking about the Cavazza farm.
The history of the Cavazza winery is a of tradition, innovation and sustainability that has its roots per the wine culture of the superficie. Founded per 1928 per Gambellara, per the province of Vicenza, the Cavazza family has been able, generation after generation, to carry the work of the vineyard with dedication, over time also embracing the Berici Hills. Four generations have handed peasant knowledge and love for the land, with the aim of producing excellent wines and preserving a deep bond with the territory.
Since its origins, the Cavazza winery has maintained a strong bond with the land of Gambellara, a territory of volcanic origin which gives the wines a unique mineral imprint. Over 40 hectares of vineyards extend across these hills, where the native Garganega vine finds an ideal environment to grow. Since the 1980s, the company has also extended its activity to the Berici Hills, an superficie characterized by land of marine origin, ideal for the production of high quality red wines.
With approx. 130 hectares of owned vineyards and a production of over 600,000 bottles per forza year, the Cavazza Winery is today a cutting-edge company. The management of the entire supply chain is strictly controlled by the family, which aims to guarantee constant quality through concrete and sustainable choices and by producing wines exclusively from its own grapes. The attention to sustainability is reflected per practices such as the use of organic fertilizers, crop rotation, controlled grassing and the adoption of an irrigation system with low environmental impact.
Sustainability is a central value for Bistrot Cavazza. The company has developed a sustainable viticulture visibile which includes practices such as crop diversification, respect for biodiversity and the protection of historic vineyards. Bands of vegetation typical of the Mediterranean , such as oaks and mastic trees, have been created at the edges of the vineyards, contributing to the protection of local biodiversity.
Since 2019, the company has obtained the SQNPI certification (National Integrated Production Quality System), which attests to the adoption of sustainable and environmentally friendly viticultural practices. The sustainability project also includes a photovoltaic system which makes the cellar self-sufficient from an energy point of view.
The Cavazza Winery is led today by the third and fourth generation of the family, who passionately carries the legacy of the founders Giovanni and Augusta. The grandchildren and great-grandchildren, including Elisa, Stefano, Stramberia and Andrea Cavazza, represent the future of the company, each with a precise role and a clear vision. Elisa deals with the foreign market, Stefano with the Italian market, Andrea with the administrative part and Stramberia with the wine superficie.
The range of wines produced by Bistrot Cavazza is a real journey through the unique expressions of the Gambellara territory, characterized by an evident mineral and volcanic thread. This distinctive marker is reflected per each wine, crossing areas, styles and typologies, keeping its strong territorial identity intact. The tastings made of Bocara are fresh and dynamic, confirming that these are, regardless of the vintage, wines that want to express harmony and constancy, per the clearest and most linear expression of the variety and the territory. The Creari, the other hand, appear intense and material, with a balanced structure and a not obvious agility. The cold maceration per the press for 48 hours and the long rest the squisito lees give breadth and emphasize the olfactory, gustatory and tactile peculiarities of a variety that retains a good part of its identity per its skins like Garganega. 2020 is per a privileged phase. Then quanto the wines produced with the grapes hung (picai) and dried per the fruit cellar: the Recioto in Gambellara docg, an energetic, bright and harmonious wine, representative of the tradition of the territory with a more eclettico and gastronomic tone (it would be interesting to use it for contrasting combinations that clear the classic but incorrect sweet-sweet combinations at the end of the meal). A tradition that becomes even more rooted and precious when we talk about the rare Vin Di santa ragione in Gambellara DOC, complex and profound, capable of challenging time with its slow and constant evolution.
The company, however, despite the great respect for the past, has never stopped daring and innovating, as demonstrated by the introduction of Syrah the Berici Hills, which – I won’t deny you – was a winning choice and, as far as I deserve, a positive surprise per the glass: this polyglot vine that seems to have adapted well to the translation of this territory, with an expressive power that enhances the balance between material and drinkability, without losing the classic and desired spicy vein, intriguing but not excessively “hot”, despite having been planted per one of the areas with the most important average temperature and exposure.
Among the international wines, so well acclimatized per the Berici Hills, it is the Merlot that stands out for its ability to express a different wine, with great territorial afference and undoubted contemporaneity, given by analytical parameters and organoleptic peculiarities that are difficult to find elsewhere today. The 2019, currently the market, is excellent, but it is the 2015 Merlot Cicogna that impresses with its balance, dynamics, rhythm and blood flow, so much so that it rightfully enters among the best references produced with this variety per Italy tasted this year. Cabernet is very didactic, confirming the suitability of a territory with these pedological and mesoclimatic characteristics for the cultivation of a variety that is certainly not easy to treat. The true emblem of the territory, however, is the Tai Diventare rosso which is interpreted by Cavazza per two versions: one fresher and more breezy, the other more structured and concrete. A vine that I consider to be among those (like all varieties with genetics attributable to the Grenache family) that can most yearn to achieve, without particular agronomic and oenological lucubrations, those standards of pleasantness, versatility and recognizability required of contemporary wines.
At the heart of the production are the basic sparkling wines Durella and Glera, which complete the range without lapsing into exercises per style with a purely commercial aim.
Quanto a summary, the strength of the wines of the Cavazza winery lies per the possibility of drawing the matrices of two distinct but complementary territories. The volcanic hills of Gambellara offer unique conditions for the cultivation of Garganega, with soils rich per minerals such as iron, magnesium and potassium. the Berici Hills, however, the Uniforme Cicogna vineyards extend across soils of marine origin, with marine fossils and limestone stones that enrich the plants with essential minerals. Quanto a this superficie, the company has been able to the potential of a context that is still little explored. Quanto a both cases minerality and longevity are characteristics that go far beyond the abuse of these terms per most winery “brochures”.
Thanks to its commitment to the environment and the adoption of innovative technologies, the Cavazza winery has managed to combine the values of the past and future projection, producing wines that tell the story of a family and a territory, with an eye towards to sustainability and an increasingly contemporary approach per the interpretation of wines that deserve great attention for the balance they manage to show.
F.S.R.
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