Biography
The Bertani firm was founded in 1857 at Quinto di Valpantena in the province of Verona by brothers Giovanbattista and Giovanni Bertani. Giovanbattista had the opportunity of meeting, in France, Jules Guyot, philosopher and scientist, the inventor of the world’s most widely used pruning system. It was an encounter of enormous importance, which inspired in Bertani a new understanding of the concept of terroir and drove him to adopt the most advanced production techniques of the time in order to maximize the character of his wine. The house gained its maximum glory in the years following World War II under the guidance of the second generation of the family, represented by Guglielmo Bertani and his brother, Giovanbattista junior. The brothers expanded their activity beyond the confines of the Valpantena to all of the major areas around Verona: to the northwest in the Bardolino zone, in the northeastern part of Soave Classico, where, in 1928, fermentation cellars were created in Monteforte d’Alpone, and in the classic portion of Valpolicella where, in 1957, the Novaia estate at Arbizzano di Negrar was purchased. This is the largest property of the territory with over 560 overall acres of land and some 150 acres of vineyards and with the Grezzana cellars, the heart and current headquarters of the house and one of the loveliest architectural monuments of the zone, an imposing villa erected in 1700 by Count Luigi Trezza. The firm, still property of the family, can currently boast of over 325 acres of vineyards in all of the major appellations of the province of Verona. The firm, however, is indissolubly linked to the name of Amarone: the pride of the house is the Amarone della Valpolicella Classico, an outstanding blend of Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara and a part of the history of Italian oenology. The reknown of the wine is the result of its unusual character: the annual production of 80,000 bottles is the only Amarone to be marketed nine or ten years after the vintage and after a period of cask aging which lasts eight years. Unfortunately, in recent years it has gone on sale after a briefer aging period. But only because Bertani, a true exception in the zone, did not produce the wine in two vintages judged to be of inferior level, 1991 and 1992 and was forced to anticipate the release of subsequent vintages in order to hold its place on the market. Bertani makes only one type of Amarone. For what reason? The thesis of the firm is that a true Amarone della Valpolicella must be an expression of the entire territory, must be built on the three valleys which give wines of different character and personality, to be blended together into a cuvée which reassumes and reveals the complexity of the entire production zone.