In the heart of the Colli Berici, in Val Liona, a seventeenth-century farmhouse houses the winery where we produce natural wines following artisanal methods. A place that tells stories of generations, of land worked with respect, of choices guided by listening to nature.
Where there was once a portico, a stable and a hayloft, there is now the winery, the tasting room, a large storage area and the ageing room. The same volumes, the same walls, the same light entering through the large square windows.
A restoration project begun in 2018 and completed in 2019. Realised from the ideas of an inspired engineer with a love of beauty, who has worked for many years with ancient structures such as those of Venice, which are at once strong and delicate.
The beautiful house that today hosts the winery was built in 1608 by the clergyman Giovanni Porto, a member of a noble Vicentine family already owner of important palaces and villas in the Vicenza area.
The building was created to house a congregation of religious men belonging to the so-called Margheritoni, who drew inspiration from the teachings of the Venerable Antonio Pagani, a singular figure of preacher and theologian of Venetian origin devoted to asceticism and hermitage.
It is therefore an almost Benedictine place and, I would add, a blessed one.
The house remained in the possession of the Porto family until the early twentieth century, when it was purchased by the Girotto family of Vicenza.
Matteo Rigoni, the current owner and producer, is a descendant of this family.
Around the house there was an old Pinot Grigio vineyard, uprooted in 1993. In 2004, after some land-levelling work, the vineyard was replanted with new varieties: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon, to which Manzoni Bianco, Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc were added over the years.
The choice of international varieties is linked to the idea that, on these particular soils, the varietal character of the grapes yields to the nature of the soils themselves, enhancing the characteristics of the terroir rather than those of the individual grape variety.
In 2017, the restoration and arrangement of the winery began. From 2020 the winery became fully operational and all winemaking has been followed and managed directly in the historic residence.
I am Matteo Rigoni. My story begins here, in Grancona, among the stones of this house and the scents of the woodland that surrounds the vineyards. My grandparents used to come here in the summer. This is the place of memories, of the smell of old wood, of the stone from which the house is built, of honey kept in ancient cupboards, of the green that penetrated right into the walls.
I studied literature before taking over my father’s farm when we lost him, prematurely, in 1995.
In 2011 I began making wine from a vineyard planted in 2004. I had precise ideas of taste and style, but I did not yet have the winery at home. I worked at other places, moving in the directions that had fascinated me up to that point. From 2019 I have had a winery created to measure within the walls of this house. Many things have changed since that first wine and the idea I had of wine.
Having a small production, I have the opportunity to care for it differently, working it by hand, with great attention at every stage, handling the musts and wines mostly by gravity. I took terracotta amphorae and tried them. I felt that this was my dimension: to vinify and then age in 750-litre amphorae, to put my hands inside them, to feel every change in temperature and density up close.
Today I press my ear to listen to the shudders of the wine as it ferments, I feel the vintage, strong, weak, turbulent, slow, fast, always different. Different grapes, different sun, each wine has its own character. This is my path.
I cultivate approximately 4 hectares of vineyard using certified organic methods. The planting density is 4,200 vines per hectare, trained to Guyot for the whites and Spur-pruned Cordon for the reds. The average age of the vines is approximately 20 years.
Vineyard management follows the principles of organic viticulture: we do not use chemical herbicides or systemic treatments. We carry out only coverage treatments based on sulphur and copper.
For grass control, we work exclusively with mechanical operations: soil mounding and demounding along the rows, passage with an inter-row blade and grass mulching between the rows.
The yield per hectare is kept at approximately 30 quintals, to favour concentration and quality of the grapes.
The clay-calcareous soils of the Colli Berici are rich in iron and marine fossils. Moderate temperature swings between day and night, together with the use of different slope exposures, allow for the best management of white and red grape production. For hundreds of years this area of the Veneto has produced high-quality grapes suited, without the need for processes such as drying, to the production of wines of great elegance and structure.
The harvest is manual and selective: we pick bunch by bunch, choosing only the grapes that have reached the right ripeness. The grapes are immediately transported to the winery in plastic crates of approximately 15 kg, to keep the bunches intact.
The organic management of the vineyard is not only a technical choice, but a philosophy: allowing the plant and animal life to develop around the vine, respecting the rhythms of nature, creating a balanced ecosystem.
At the centre of the countryside and the vineyards lies the winery. A walk of a few minutes allows us to bring the hand-picked crates directly to the destemmer. We work to keep the grape berries mostly intact. Then we wait for fermentation to start spontaneously.
Once fermentation is complete, the wines stay in service vessels until all the grapes in the amphorae have finished fermenting. After this period, we return the wines to the amphorae or concrete tanks where they age until bottling.
Balù, Rospič and Sanglier do not pass through wooden barrels. For the Rossorigoni and Biancorigoni wines we use small oak barrels (never first-use) and tonneaux, in addition to concrete tanks.
All our work is oriented towards leaving maximum space for the natural evolution of the wine. We rack only when necessary and prefer to let the wines rest, intervening as little as possible.
For us, wine is not just a product to sell, it is the result of a system: the landscape, the land, the vines, the stones of a house from 1600, the people who work here, those who live in it, those who visit it. Everything is in dialogue.
The winery cannot exist without the vineyard, the vineyard cannot exist without the calcareous soil of the Colli Berici, the wine cannot take shape without the terracotta amphorae and the time that fermentation and ageing require.
It is a harmonious system where each element makes sense in relation to the others. This is why it makes sense to taste the wine here, in the winery where it is born. Because here the wine resonates in the most authentic way: not isolated on a shelf, but surrounded by the context that generated it.
During the guided visits we do not simply pour a wine into a glass, we tell a story, our story, which is the story of our wine. We walk through the vineyards, enter the winemaking cellar, see the amphorae, the concrete tanks, the spaces of the historic residence.
We taste the wines accompanied by local products. And we understand that what we are tasting is part of something greater: a balance between nature, architecture, human work and time.
This is what makes a tasting with us different. It is not a question of marketing or constructed storytelling. It is the concrete possibility of seeing and understanding the system from which each bottle is born.
The Colli Berici are a territory rich in history and winemaking tradition, characterised by calcareous soils and a temperate climate that favours vine cultivation. They are located in the province of Vicenza, between the cities of Verona, Vicenza and Padua.
Our vineyards put down roots in a hard and stony land, but an extraordinarily generous one, which gives the wines a minerality and structure. The geographical position benefits from the influence of the continental climate and the breeze that arrives from the plain, creating ideal conditions for quality viticulture.
It is a territory still little known by the tourist circuits, made up of vineyards, woodlands of hornbeams and downy oaks, small villages and historic residences. A landscape that preserves the slow rhythm of the countryside and the memory of a centuries-old agricultural tradition.
The winery is easily reached by car from all the main cities of the Veneto.
But watch out for sat navs, they can play tricks. To avoid inconvenience it is always best to enter “Museo della Civiltà Contadina” first and then Cantina Matteo Rigoni. And if they tell you to go down roads that are too difficult, turn back immediately!
We are situated in a peaceful area, surrounded by vineyards and woodland, ideal for those seeking an authentic experience away from the most beaten tourist trails.
Parking available at the winery, also for motorhomes, motorbikes and bicycles.
