This has an overall area of around 6 hectares of which 4 are planted out with vines. One part of this land has belonged to the family since way back (four generations) and has been used to grow grapes since as early as the 1700’s. Another plot adjacent to the first was bought more recently at the end of the ‘60s by Giuseppe, father of Nicola who is the current proprietor. The company headquarters is located in a tiny old hamlet building which houses the offices and the cellars.

The terrain is typical of the Collio. The slopes face south-east and the climate is quite warm, ideal for the production of local reds and whites, the finest among which being Tocai and Malvasia. The wines which come from this land have great elegance and complexity. Here we have the “cru” for the “Ronco della Chiesa” Tocai, the fields which give us “Rosso della Centa”, with the rest being given over to Malvasia. Wedged between the steep hill of San Giorgio where the Rosso della Centa is located and the beginning of Monte Quarin, where we find the Ronco della Chiesa, there is a triangular patch of land enclosed by a crenellated stone wall where the ancient Malvasia vines grow from which we make the Italo & Bruno selection, so named after the two brothers who were the original owners.

We have eliminated Chardonnay and Sauvignon from our fields as they thrive better in cooler climes and, more recently, Cabernet Sauvignon which prefers looser soils, and is therefore less suitable for the Collio clays than Merlot. A separate discussion must be reserved for Ronco della Chiesa; the current fields were planted out at the end of the 1950’s and were tilled and terraced by hand with spades and thus maintain intact the underlying strata. The slopes, which are really steep, and ploughed following the natural contours, were remodelled with narrow terraces according to the old tradition and with the vines planted along the edges. Under these conditions, the vines can take full advantage of the lovely terroir of the Collio in that it is able to easily reach the bedrock and penetrate its roots into cracks in the fractured strata of marl and sandstone (the “ponca”) where during periods of drought they can find the water and minerals which they require.