Meggiolaro Vini - Cristiana Meggiolaro & Riccardo Roncolato

THE TERRITORY Our town boasts a thousand-year history, as we know thanks to the discovery of work tools dating back to prehistoric times: this confirms that agriculture has always been practiced here, so much so that the name of our municipality derives from the Latin "runcare", to clear forests, and Roncà has taken on the meaning of "land plowed with the billhook", a curved-bladed knife that is still used for the same purpose today.

Our vineyards, planted exclusively with native grapes, are located in a hamlet of Roncà, in Brenton, a town straddling the provinces of Verona and Vicenza. Lake Garda to the west, the warm Adriatic Sea to the east, the Lessini Mountains rich in pastures to the north, and the Po Valley sloping toward the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines to the south. The soil beneath their roots was once home to volcanoes that left an indelible mark on the richness of their expression and minerality, thanks to their schists, tuffs, and lavas that over the millennia have overlapped to form the backbone of our terroir. The oldest vineyard, with an average age of 40 years, is located 450 meters above sea level, in a magnificent south/southwest position where it collects the warmest rays of the summer sun. The altitude also guarantees the ideal nighttime temperature range, which then imparts intense aromas to our Durella grapes. A little further down, another old, pure Durella vineyard nestles beneath a beautiful grassy slope. Finally, down in Roncà, 120 meters above sea level, lies the youngest Garganega vineyard, which we planted ourselves and which, more than its other companions, requires care and attention to be guided to full maturity. All around, biodiversity is ensured by woods that lovingly embrace the vineyards and by the green manure we apply each year with a variety of plants, each with its own specific function, aimed at providing the soil and vines with the nourishment and protection they need to face the intense winemaking season. We do not use any chemicals or poisons in the vineyard: no weedkillers, no treatments, and no fertilizers that could pollute or alter the precious balance between the vine and the soil. The grapes we then use to make wine come exclusively from these three plots; each plant is personally cared for and respected for its specific needs. The harvest is done by hand at the most opportune moment. Proud and at the same time amazed by the rich history we tread every day, intent on preserving the value with which nature nourishes the grapes, we use only the indigenous yeasts present on the skins, we do not destem, and we simply ensure that fermentation occurs at the desired temperature. All this is aimed at achieving a single goal: to distill the richness, generosity, uniqueness, history, and beauty of our land into the glass of wine you will enjoy.