Founding Members

Brother of Livio Felluga, Marco Felluga belongs to the same dynasty of producers of wine. With a childhood at Grado and oenological studies at the school of Conegliano, it was inevitable that he should fall in love with the nearby Collio hills, where a magical landscape is one with a climate and soil with important potential for fine wine. From the lagoon of Grado to the hills of Gradisca d’Isonzo, therefore, it was only a short step for Felluga, who founded his own cellar at the latter spot.
The balance between modern innovation and modern technology on the one hand, and the traditions of the zone on the other, have made the house a reference point for the entire territory. It is no accident that the local producers consortium has been guided by Felluga in recent years. Today, to follow in the footsteps and in the philosophy of absolute quality is his son Roberto, the fifth generation of the family. Vineyards amount to 300 acres and production to 600,000 bottles annually, and two wines top the quality pyramid: Carantan, a red, and Molamatta, a white. They make Marco Felluga a widely respected firm, but only the leader of a group with three other estates. The most important is Russiz Superiore, 240 total acres and 175 planted to vines, a place imbued with the history of Friuli whose owners, in the 13th century, were the Torre e Tasso princes.
Acquired in 1966 at Capriva di Friuli, its annual production is 200,000 bottles and its leading labels are the white Col Disôre and the red Riserva degli Orzoni.
The Castello di Buttrio estate, instead, was purchased in 1994 and is endowed with a rich patrimony of vineyards planted with selections of native grapes from the old vineyards of the property. Two wines are produced: the white Castello di Buttrio-Ovestein and the red Castello di Buttrio-Marburg. The last property to become part of the group consists of 125 acres of vineyards at San Casciano Val di Pesa, near Florence in Tuscany. This estate, San Nicolò a Pisignano, produces a Sangiovese-based cru, Sorripa.

The Maculan are a family which, for three generations, has selected and fermented the finest grapes of Breganze, a lovely hill town in the province of Vicenza, one of the most attractive spots in all of the Veneto region, distinguished by the villas and the architecture of Andrea Palladio.
The natural barrier offered by the high plateau of Asiago creates a mild climate, which has always favored the cultivation of the vine.
Maculan owns its own vineyards with 27 proprietary acres in the township, and leases another 60 in the appellation. And the house also works with selected cultivators who supply the grapes of another 125 acres. The cellar is located in the historic center of Breganze and is one of the finest examples of a successful marriage of tradition and modern technology. If Maculan is, today, one of the best known and most prestigious names in Italian wine, this is due to the work of Fausto Maculan, a far-sighted oenologist who, many years ago, had the courage to produce traditional wines in a new way and create new wines of very high quality. Maculan reinvented the traditional Torcolato of Breganze, produced form lengthily-dried Vespolina grapes (the wine takes its name from the fact that the grapes are wound around a cord) by utilizing modern fermentation techniques and, above all, by a lengthy aging in barrique. The result is a sweet and suave dessert wine. Even more surprising is Acini Nobili, produced from dried grapes attacked by a “noble rot” which completely transforms the grapes. A magnificent wine, supple, fruity, jammy, honeyed. The grapes of the Ferrata farm produce the wine of the same name, a white blend of Sauvignon and Chardonnay, intense and aromatic. A wine which competes with the finest Sauternes. But Maculan also knows how to express his great talents with red wine. Fratta and Palazzotto are the proof, universally considered exemplary offerings from the Veneto. The first is a Bordeaux blend with a touch of the native Croatina, a wine of rare elegance, finesse, and persistence. The second, instead, is a Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine of great integrity, solid and complex.

Martinenga, “a place which is sacred to the god Mars”, was the name given by the ancient Ligurian tribes to the woody spot just below the height beneath which they had found refuge (in Latin, asylum) from the Roman legions which, after conquering the nearby city of Alba, prepared to take control of the surrounding area. Two thousand years later, the place names of this part of Piedmont are still linked to these remote events. Asili and Martinenga, in fact, are among the most famous vineyards of Barbaresco, the ancient barbarica sylva (“barbarian woods”). And it is on the Martinenga vineyard, and other splendid possessions of the estate of this name, that the di Gresy marquises have founded their renown as producers of excellence.
It was in 1973 that Alberto di Gresy began to ferment the Nebbiolo grapes of his 27 acres of proprietary vineyards, creating wines which were considered among the finest of the Barbaresco appellation. The three Nebbiolo-based crus, Martinenga, Gaiun, and Camp Gros, symbolize and incarnate all the elegance which this superlative terroir regularly, even in difficult vintages, manages to express.
The production philosophy of Marchesi di Gresy is based on scrupulous and careful vineyard work which aims at the finest possible grapes, and cellar decisions which respect both tradition and research for the new. The results are absolutely excellent, both with the classic native grapes and with international varieties such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon, and Merlot. But it is the Barbaresco Camp Gros which is the essence of the great wines of Piedmont; first produced in 1978, and since then only in superior vintages, it is a selection of a small part of the Martinenga vineyard which rises towards Rabajà. A “summa” of the oenological excellence of the Langhe area in which environment and biology, together with the works of man, combine to create extraordinary characteristics of complexity and balance and confer exceptional aging ability as well.
In addition to the Martinenga estate, Marchesi di Gresy can rely on its Monte Aribaldo property in the township of Treiso, where Dolcetto, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon are cultivated, and on the La Serra and Monte Colombo properties, excellent sites for Moscato, Barbera, and Merlot.

With a gradual but irresistible ascent, Michele Chiarlo, a trained oenologist and the descendant of five generations of vineyard cultivators, is now the head of a firm known all over the world, producer of a million bottles of wine, of excellent quality. The beginnings in 1956 were modest: a small cellar at Calamandrana in the province of Asti which sold Moscato and Barbera. The cellar was called “Duca d’Asti”. “Wine”, at the time, “was a low-level product”, observes Chiarlo with some irony, “and I tried, with the name, to give it a bit of nobility”. Two years later, however, the small firm was able to age the ample and generous Barbera of the zone. It was a 1958 Barbera, in fact, which lasted as long as a Bordeaux, which enabled him to make a name for himself in the USA many years later, surprising everyone at a tasting. In order to guarantee high level grapes, Chiarlo began to purchase vineyards. He produces the full range of Piedmontese wines, and in order to ferment and age them in their various production zones he has set up three different cellars: one at Calamandrana, his headquarters, another at Gavi, and a third in the Barolo appellation. Chiarlo began in Barolo in 1982, first purchasing grapes, then leasing vineyards, and finally acquiring them. In 1989 he became the proprietor of 15 acres at La Morra, in the Cerequio cru, and a year later he purchased 3.5 acres in the historic cru of Cannubi in the township of Barolo. The plot was too steep for tractors and he had already re-modulated the terrain in a novel way for the Langhe area, but without changing the profile of the hill, planting each vine row on a small terrace which followed the curves of the slope. “In this way the vines do not shade one another”, he explains, “and the grapes ripen perfectly. But when I confronted the task, I was not at all sure that the vineyard would become mine”. Barolo has been joined, at the top of his line, by an important Barbera, La Court. In the cru which supplies the grapes, Chiarlo has created a park for works of art to give even more importance and allure to the territory. But his greatest satisfaction is the fact his work will be continued by his sons: Stefano, who studied oenology, is responsible for the vineyards and cellar together with winemaker Gianni Meleni, while Alberto, with marketing studies in his curriculum vitae, is in charge of the commercial aspects of the firm. With them, the sixth generation is on the job.

The Planeta family has been working with passion and commitment in various agricultural activities in the province of Agrigento for several generations and have been forerunners in many developments in Sicilian agriculture. Since 1995, the year of the first vintage in the Ulmo cellars, Planeta has expanded into other areas of the island, seeking out specific areas with different soils and micro-climates that would enable the house to produce wines with special character and personality. In order to realize this ambitious goal, the firm has made major efforts on behalf of Sicily’s native grapes, has sought out the finest international varieties which might adapt themselves to the specific conditions of the island, and has attempted to bring back to active life some of the oldest and most fascinating viticultural areas of Sicily. The overall Planeta project currently involves four different areas: Sambuca di Sicilia and Menfi in the province of Agrigento, Noto in the province of Siracusa, and Vittoria near Ragusa, gathering together in this way zones with greatly different oenological traditions but united by the fact that each produces high quality wines of true individual character. The newest estate of Planeta, instead, is located at north-northeastern slopes of Mount Etna in the Santo Spirito district, close to 3000 feet above sea level.
The gamut of house crus ranges from the Sicilian tradition, exemplified by Santa Cecilia, a Nero d’Avola from Noto, to international-style wines such as Burdese, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, a Chardonnay and a Merlot, all particularly popular both with wine guides and consumers.
The latter two have won a popularity which can be defined, without exaggeration, as planetary: the Chardonnay can be considered, beyond the shadow of a doubt, a cult wine not only in Italy but also in foreign markets, a success which can be explained by the exceptional pleasure it gives, its golden yellow color with green highlights, and a nose and palate which join freshness and opulence to a mineral character.
The Merlot, instead, is a red wine whose aromas are characterized by notes of red currants, ripe plums, and candied violets together with balsamic sensations of lemon and sage. Ample and velvety, it is, at the same time, powerful and supple, sweetned by its significant alcohol level and freshened by a light touch of acidity.
The three younger Planeta members who direct operations at the house under the supervision of the patriarch Diego: Alessio, Francesca, and Santi.

The estate was created in 1830 when brothers Lucio and Carmelo Mastrogiovanni Tasca purchased the former fiefdom of Regaleali, approximately 3,000 acres of land at Sclafani, near the border between the provinces of Palermo and Caltanissetta. It was directed in those first years by Lucio, who made it into a model estate. Regaleali has never ceased to be in the vanguard of Sicilian viticulture in its subsequent 120 years of activity when, at the end of the Second World War, the agrarian reform led to the confiscation of over a half of the original 3,000 acres, reducing the property to 1,250 acres: Count Giuseppe Tasca d’Almerita had the foresight to react vigorously and with real determination, giving wine and the vineyards a central place in operations and aiming exclusively at high quality. He was a pioneer in the cultivation with wire-trained vines, in reducing yields per hectare, and in the utilization of such native Sicilian grapes as Inzolia and Nero d’Avola. Also in experimenting, without any sense of prejudice, such international grapes as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Current operations are in charge of Count Lucio Tasca d’Almerita and his sons Giuseppe and Alberto: theirs was the decision to create a company, composed almost entirely of young Sicilians, which directs all of the strategic areas of production, from the budgetary matters to marketing, and sells the wine all over the world. From the heart of Sicily, from that ecological oasis which is called Regaleali, issue forth each year three million bottles of wine: four white wines, six red wines, two sparkling wines, and a dessert wine, all produced from authentic crus. Two were created by Giuseppe Tasca d’Almerita, father of Lucio: the Rosso del Conte, a Nero d’Avola perfected long before this grape variety became popular, aged in chestnut casks (which now have been replaced with oak), and Nozze d’Oro, a white wine realized to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his marriage to Baroness Franca Camarata. Among the white wines, the fleshy, elegant Chardonnay merits much attention, as does the aristocratic Cabernet Sauvignon among the reds. Increasing popular as well is the aromatic sweet wine Diamante d’Almerita, a blend of Moscato and Traminer.

The first evidence of the existence of the Tenuta San Leonardo is from the fifth century A.D. when is recounted that Autari, king of the Lombards, had married Teodolina, daughter of the king of Bavaria. In the maps of the 10th century A.D. San Leonardo is already recognizable. It was at that time that monks arrived, established a small convent and began to cultivate the vine.
After many centuries as church property, the estate was sold to the Gresti family in the 18th century, and came into the hands of the Guerrier Gonzaga marquises by female descent in the 19th century.
San Leonardo is in the town of Borghetto all’Adige, one of the first townships of the lower Trentino in the Adige river valley near the Veneto. Carlo Guerrieri Gonzaga became the director of the property after his father, Anselmo Guerrieri Gonzaga, and he is now assisted by his son, who bears the same name as his grandfather. The estate has always sought to achieve the highest possible quality, true, concrete, and perceptible. The means to achieve the goal are a rational viticulture which achieves the maximum with the various vineyard plots and grape varieties, and cellar practices which are, at the same time, rational and natural. The sole goal is to conserve and maximize the quality potential present in the grapes when they are harvested. Over the course of time, the vineyards have been periodically renewed and replanted in order to have, at all times, a certain number of old vines capable of producing fine wine (the young vines are utilized for wines which are immediately pleasurable, just as in Bordeaux). The symbol of the estate is San Leonardo, a well studied blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot; after a lengthy period of skin contact, the wine is run off its skins and aged for at least two years in French oak barrels, then aged a further two years after bottling before release. An elegant wine, rich, supple, sumptuous, which has nothing to envy in comparison to the grand crus of Bordeuax. The “second wine” of the house is Villa Gresti, a Merlot with a small percentage of Carmenère, a wine of striking finesse, soft tannins, and roundness on the palate.

On an international scale, it is not a large winery, but by Italian standard sit Umani Ronchi of Osimo, with 500 acres of proprietary vineyards, 75 under lease, and an annual production of four million bottles, is of industrial dimensions. Industrial wineries normally do not produce fine wine, but this winery in the Marches has succeeded, and for a certain period of time, in overturning this image. How has it been accomplished? With constant high quality and at least three thoroughbred wines. One is Plinio, a Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi as full-bodied as its name suggests, the second, Cumaro, a Rosso Conero Riserva which is supple, harmonious, and balanced, but the third is Pelago, an unusual blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Montepulciano, and Merlot, powerful and elegant and rather unexpected in an area known for its Verdicchio-based wines. The anomaly of Umani Ronchi is that it enjoys all of the advantages of scale of an industrial winery without succumbing to the temptation of reasoning strictly in terms of numbers, perhaps because it is still a family winery: the director of production, until now, has been Massimo Bernetti, who currently shares the tiller of command with his son Michele, sales director and responsible for foreign markets, while his uncle Stefano is in charge of the Italian market. Why does the house not bear their name? Simple: it was founded in the 1950’s at Cupramontana by Gino Umani Ronchi. But it took off only when, a few years later, the company was joined by engineer Roberto Bianchi who, in 1970, purchased total control and then passed it on to son-in-law Massimo Bernetti after moving the winery to Osimo, where it is currently headquartered. Success, according to the Bernetti, is due to three decisions: diversification in a region where mono-product firms are the rule; exports, which absorb 80% of the total production; quality, i.e. rigorous selection of the grapes, low yields per hectare, continuous controls in the laboratory, but above all constant research in the vineyards and cellar. To select clones, varieties, and training systems the Bernetti have an experimental vineyard at Villa Bianchi, the center at Moie di Maiolati where they receive guests, created by agreements with the environmental and agricultural Biotechnology Department of the University of Ancona.