Good morning, Stefano. Can you tell us what wine means to you?

“For me wine is not just a job, but a real passion. I love tasting other wines, both Italian and international, because they help me to discover new nuances, to increase my skills, to be inspired to bring new value to my company. I know enthusiasts and producers from all over Italy and I love attending fairs, because it gives me the opportunity to meet people with whom to exchange stimulating points of view.

Casaretti is part of the FIVI (Italian Federation of Independent Wine Growers) a beautiful project that allows me to get in touch with colleagues who share our vision of the work and want to enhance artisan wines”.

Can you tell us what the difficulties you had in the beginning?

“There have been many difficulties, starting with the ones my grandfather had to endure during the war and the ones my father had to face when he built the new cellar.  In the 80’s, there was the methanol scandal in Italy. Our company had nothing to do with that incident, but it was nevertheless affected by the media chaos that hit the whole industry heavily.

I took over the company when I was very young and had to study a lot to learn and keep up to date. The problems of drought and climate change are more recent issues, making it increasingly difficult to grow grapes.
Due to these climate variations, the different vintages can be very different from each other and it takes a great deal of sensitivity to interpret them and make the best use of each harvest. ”

Is there a wine you are particularly proud of? Can you explain why?

“There is not a particular wine that I am most proud of, because each of my wines has characteristics that make it unique. If I must choose, I would say that I am very fond of Bardolino Classico La Nogara, which is produced with grapes from the oldest vineyard; it is from here that everything else began. However, I will say that each of our wines deserves a prominent place, because for each one we aim for the highest quality of grapes, even if this means limiting the yields. 50-year-old vines offer different aromas and flavors and a complexity that younger vines are not yet able to offer.”

Your grapes grow in Calmasino, Cavaion and Garda, on the wonderful Veronese shore of the lake. What are the characteristics of that land?

“Unlike Valpolicella, our land is of morainic origin: it was formed millions of years ago when the great glacier of Garda retreated, leaving debris, gravel, clay and sand. This has created a strong diversity of the soil that we see everyday, because every soil is different from other soil,  even when it is just a few hundred meters away. This particular structure has given finesse and flavor to the wine, which we try to enhance”.

Why should we taste your wines?

Stefano − laughing − tells us we should do it because they are good, but then he gets serious and explains himself better.
“We are known above all for Bardolino, a wine that for too many years has been trivialized. There are types of wines that, with some artifice, can seem like great wines, even if they are not. Using these same tricks with Bardolino is much more difficult, because during winemaking you don’t use special techniques and if you work with just estimates,  you can’t get an interesting wine. We have been working for years to enhance our grapes and obtain a high quality Bardolino, despite there being some unfavorable vintages”.

What is your work dream, that you would like to become reality?

“My goal is to increase the recognition of our wine and improve the positioning of the brand within the catering industry, but my real dream goes further.  I would like to equip my facility for tasting, and be able to host connoisseurs who want to buy a bottle or  just drink a glass of good wine at the winery. It would be the perfect opportunity to suggest old vintages of wines that are no longer on the market. To this I would also like to add products local to the area, to enhance the esteem of the area in which we are located”.