Agriturismo San Mattia  Vineyards and wine cellars

First grapes, then wine. at the Agriturismo San Mattia

The agriturismo San Mattia originally owned mainly Valpolicella vineyards, like Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Molinara to which a few Oseleta, Rossignola, Merlot, Barbera, Sangiovese and Castelli Romani plants were added. There were also some Trebbiano di Soave and Garganega.

The severe drought of 2003 damaged many plants: on that period the farmhouse of Verona did not own an irrigation system able to satisfy the needs that the strong heat caused to our plants.

On 2005 the farm San Mattia cultivated an old vineyard of 1.8 hectares: the plants were 35-50 years old, grown through the "tendone" system with a planting distance of 4.5m x 0.9 m. with a total of approximately 2400 plants per hectare and an average productivity of 5 kg of grape per plant. Its production capacity was of approximately 70%. The family that owns the Agriturismo San Mattia decided to replace those plants applying modern and high-quality viticulture. The same surface has been re-planted with typical vines of the Valpolicella like Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, using the Guyot cane pruning with a planting distance of 2.20 m. x 0.8 m and 5600 plants per hectare.

The maximum load has been limited to 1.5 kg of grapes per plant to enhance the quality of grapes that will become a precious wine.

Another important change has been the training technique, as explained above we abandoned the "pergola" and "tendone" techniques to adopt the "Guyot". This technique foresees that several horizontal threads between the posts are arranged on the stem that is 50-80 centimeters high; the fruit is tied to the lowest thread. The other branches are vertically tied to the upper threads. This technique has been chosen considering different factors: the weather, the soil composition, the type of vine, the exceptional oenological quality that we intend reached. The grape harvest, still performed by expert hands, selects the best grapes to wither on the trellis waiting for the vinification.

On 2007, to diversify our range of products, we prepared 1.2 hectares of vines with a similar training but using white grape vines like Garganega and Chardonnay that properly combined lead to a high quality product.

The Garganega is the most important white grape among the provinces of Verona, the variety that dominates the hills of the DOC Soave. This grape is distinguished by its almond fragrance and its white flowers are the clearest ones; it has an extremely long biological development, therefore it is not harvested until October. It is not remarkably acid; it rather reaches the equilibrium between extracts and sugars.

The Chardonnay is a white vine that originally grew on the French land it was named after, in Bourgogne. Approximately 11,800 hectares of land are cultivated in Italy with this type of grape; they are mainly concentrated in Friuli, Lombardia, Alto Adige, Trentino and Veneto.
The optimal thread orientation, the modern cultivation systems, the accurate product selection in the field combined with our particular Terroir promise outstanding quality results.

Terroir, French term that became normally used among people involved with wine production; it defines a set of factors including environment, cultivation techniques and origin certification.

On 2008 the Agriturismo San Mattia produces its first wines suggesting three special products, resulting from the excellent viticulture practiced and from the love with which the vinification is done in the wine cellar. Our wines will be presented on April 2009.

We are planning to plant a collection-vineyard in the next years to recover and value minor autochthonous vines of the Valpolicella, often forgotten due to their scarce productivity in quantitative terms.