IL MONTE CARO

Il Monte Caro, natural wines from Valpolicella

Expression of the sunniest Valpolicella, the Mezzane Valley. A vineyard with a single body, planted by Enzo on the very hard white limestone rock of Monte Caro at the beginning of the 90s. The history of the farm Il Monte Caro begins in 1989, when Enzo Marcolini and his wife Carla buy a hilly terrain in Mezzane di Sotto (VR).

Until then, the area had been left untended due to its severe roughness, so much so that it has always been defined by the inhabitants of the town as "the sassaia", but after building an artesian well Enzo and Carla succeeded in starting the estate in 1989 Monte Caro, where vineyards, olive trees and other crops are planted. In 2014, thanks also to the contribution of his sons Emanuela and Giorgio, they decided to start making wine on their own. It will be the first vintage of the new Il Monte Caro winery.

Today Enzo remains the owner of agricultural work and viticultural experiments, Emanuela is in charge of viticulture and the image of the company, while Giorgio, an engineer specializing in renewable energy and sommelier, follows the vinification. The vineyards extend over an area of ​​5 hectares between 150 and 300 meters above sea level, and benefit from the exceptional dry and ventilated microclimate due to the continuous presence of air coming from the north.

Added to this is the composition of the soil of volcanic origin, which varies from clay with a basaltic rock substrate to strongly calcareous and predominantly stony, conditions that make it on average warmer than the norm and that favor thermal excursions of 10-12 ° C. The vineyards of Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella, to which Cabernet Sauvignon is added, are arranged on seven plots, selected on the basis of the soil and the most suitable exposure for each grape variety. The planting layouts used are the Veronese and Trentino pergoletta, to which are added some Guyot rows arranged on terraces built for the steep slope of the mountain.

In the vineyard no synthetic products are used, no weeding is carried out, and all the processes, from pruning to the massive summer thinning of shoots, leaves and berries, up to the harvest are strictly manual. This allows us to give only the best grapes to the cellar, which are fermented thanks to indigenous yeasts only with the sole aid of temperature control.