The company covers 58 hectares, of which 30 are destined to vineyards, and 28 to woods. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the lawyer Giancarlo Ageno discovered the wine vocation of this place and started the production of wines with significant and curious names such as Bordò, Bordò bianco, Pinò. In 1973 La Stoppa was purchased by the Pantaleoni family and, since the mid-1990s, Elena Pantaleoni has been running the company. Elena, flanked by Giulio Armani, focused the work on the vineyard, managed according to the organic method certified by Suolo and Salute. The low natural yields, due to the average age of the vines and the poor soil, and the intrinsic quality of the grapes make it possible to obtain highly characterized wines, born in the vineyard and transformed in the cellar through a minimalist approach. AGRICULTURE The care of the vineyard is carried out by letting the plant grow independently, without fertilizers or weeding, only sulfur and copper treatments. All work is done by hand, from pruning to tying, suckering, topping, up to harvesting to ensure greater control and keep the quality of the grapes intact. The grapes from the younger vines are destined for the production of young wines and the more valuable grapes and from old vines for the production of long aging wines. From half of the in the 1990s, the cultivation of local varieties was privileged: Barbera and Bonarda for the red grapes, Malvasia di Candia Aromatica, Ortrugo and Trebbiano for the white ones. CELLAR Steel and concrete tanks: these are the containers where the fresh de-stemmed grapes are vinified. For the Riserva wines, a long refinement will follow in wooden vats and barrels and in the bottle. All fermentation takes place spontaneously, through indigenous yeasts, without the addition of sulfur dioxide and at room temperature. Long macerations are carried out in order to extract the maximum from the grapes and to keep the characteristics of each harvest distinct. The long aging in oak barrels is necessary for the grapes grown in this hot and dry climate and allows the wine to mature slowly and naturally. Also the long refinement in the bottle is necessary for the wine to mature and to be a faithful expression of the territory from which it comes.