Cantina Romanese

Here is mountain viticulture: we are in Valsugana where vines were cultivated already in Roman times. But the period of greatest success and notoriety for viticulture in the valley certainly took place between the 19th and 20th centuries, which however began, paradoxically, to wane following the annexation of Trentino to Italy, as the commercial outlet beyond outside the Alps, due to customs duties. This caused a slow but progressive decline in viticulture until the almost total extinction of the vineyards. Over the last 20 years, however, we have been witnessing a recovery and an increasingly pronounced interest on the part of young winemakers in the area, certainly including the brothers Giorgio and Andrea Romanese who, in 2009, founded the winery of the same name in Levico Terme, a municipality of Valsugana, in the province of Trento. The intent is to relaunch native and non-native vines, but above all to exploit the very particular soil and climate conditions, which are well suited to the cultivation of sparkling wine grapes. The company's vineyards are located at 600 meters above sea level, at the foot of the Lagorai chain, in a truly breathtaking landscape context; here the vines climb along the horizontal structures of the typical "Trentino pergola", specially designed for sloping terraces. Prior to the opening of the production activity, there is an important professional preparation on the part of Giorgio who is in fact a graduate of the Agricultural Institute of San Michele all'Adige, a listed school and a famous vine research centre; Andrea, on the other hand, dedicates his free time to the vineyards. Labels worth mentioning are certainly the Trentino Müller Thurgau DOC "Laetitia" and the Quality Sparkling Wine Classic Method Brut "Lagorai", the latter, then, is truly particular as it ages for several months immersed in the waters of Lake Levico. After several experiments, in fact, in 2013, the Romanese brothers placed the first bottles of Classic Method, aging on their own yeasts, on the lakebed; here, at around 15-20 meters deep, the almost constant temperature, both in summer and winter, guarantees truly optimal refinement; the result is extraordinary, with a fine and elegant perlage, an innate elegance and a persistence worthy of the best champagnes.