The Wine: Glera Still 2019

I Castagnucoli Glera still is a white natural wine made from 100% Glera (Prosecco) grapes from Colli Euganei, Veneto Region, Northern Italy. Spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts, unfined, unfiltered, no added sulfites.

The Winery: I Castagnucoli

I Castagnucoli is located in Cinto Euganeo, in the Southern Colli Euganei sub-zone of Veneto region, Northern Italy. It was founded by Nicola Del Santo in 2010, an archaeologist by trade, who followed his father's footsteps and started making natural wine from certified organic grapes. I Castagnucoli was one of the first certified organic estates in the area. Nicola farms a series of non-contiguous vineyards spread all over Colli Euganei, where he grows several grape varietals, mostly indigenous to Veneto – Moscato Giallo, Glera, Garganega, Marzemina Bianca, Merlot, Carmenere, Cabernet Sauvignon, Raboso, Corbinella, Pataresca, Turchetta, and Cavarara.

The Region: Veneto

Veneto is one of the most important wine regions of Italy, located in the North-Eastern corner of the Italian peninsula. It borders with Trentino-Alto Adige (north), Friuli-Venezia Giulia (north-east), Emilia-Romagna (south), and Lombardy (west).

The capital of Veneto is Venice, which is also its most populous city, followed by Verona, Padua, Vicenza, Treviso, and Rovigo. The east coast of Lake Garda, the biggest Italian lake, is part of Veneto and so is the tract of Alpine foothills called Venetian Prealps.

Veneto is the leading Italian region for the quantity of wine produced – even though wine-producing regions such as Piedmont, Tuscany, Lombardy, Puglia, and Sicily all have bigger territories.

Some of its most famous wines are Amarone della Valpolicella, Valpolicella, Soave, and of course Prosecco. Other less known but equally delicious wines are Recioto della Valpolicella, Recioto di Gambellara, Raboso del Piave, and Bardolino.

Veneto’s main characteristic is perhaps the great variety of wine types produced, obtained mostly from indigenous grape varietals – Corvina, Glera, and Garganega being the most common.

This is due as much to its specific geography and climate as it is to rather peculiar winemaking techniques such as the grape drying technique employed to make Amarone della Valpolicella, Veneto’s most famous red wine.