MONTE ZOVO (Lake Garda, Italy)
Discover the wines in tasting
Monte Zovo: a sustainable and innovative company
Sustainability is an act of full responsibility towards our planet and the people who inhabit it. Since our founding year, as the Cottini family we have been committed to ensuring the well-being of the territories in which we operate and the people that belong to them, as well as to producing high quality wines through the adoption of sustainable practices in the vineyard and in the winery. We consider tradition as our root and our connection with the land, its history and culture. This translates into an increased focus on environmental, economic and social development, which has always been a crucial value for our family.
The Cottini Family:
The wine history of the Cottini family began in the second decade of 1900. In 1925, Carlo Cottini founded the first family farm. In recent years the company, in addition to the vineyards, started to cultivate other types of fruit such. He also raised cattle. The important leap towards viticulture is up to the second and third generation, which specialising in the production of wine. Raffaello (Carlo’s son) built his winery in Fumane, in Valpolicella, where the family has its roots. In 1965 he bought the Caprino Veronese estate, where the winery where the modern winery is located still today.
The Estates:
Caprino Estate Garda:
The estate is entirely cultivated and certified in accordance with the organic conduction method. It is composed by three different plots of land, therefore it is characterised by a significant biodiversity level. The vineyards which compose it are located at very different altitudes, from 350 meters to 850 meters asl.
Geographical Location
The plots of land which compose this estate lay in the localities of: Monte Zovo, Spiazzi and Bettinelle. To better understand, all of them can be localised in the Garda Lake inland area, where we choosed the best position in terms of sun exposure and terroir. Monte Zovo lays all around the winery of Caprino, inside the magnificent area of the morenic amphitheatre of Rivoli Veronese. Spiazzi , instead, is located at high altitude, in the prealps area on the slopes of Monte Baldo. The experimental vineyards of Bettinelle is located in the plain of Rivoli. they are dedicated to research on resistent varietals.
Climate
The different location and sun exposure of the three vineyards, makes sure that different and somehow unique microclimatic conditions occur. Monte Zovo and Bettinelle are characterised by constant breezes blowing from the Adige Valley, the one which come down from Trentino Alto Adige. The valley acts as a gully for Alps’ winds. Spiazzi, instead, is characterised by a great thermic excursion between day and night. In both cases temperature, tendentially fresh, are mitigates by the warm influence of the Garda Lake, that acts as a thermal regulator.
Soil
Even from the morphological point of view, the different vineyards location makes sure that a great variability occurs between each others. The soils of Monte Zovo and Bettinelle are morenic. They are characterised by calcareous cobblestones, which show a typical round shape, as they have a sedimentary origin and were brought here by the melting of the glacier Atesino, better know as it gave origin to the Lake Garda. In Spiazzi the soils are mainly calcareous and rocky, with a clay loam texture.
Altitude
The three different plots of the Caprino Estate are spread at very different altitudes between one to each others. Monte Zovo is located on the northern part of the morain ridge that acts as the perimeter of the morenic amphitheatre of Rivoli Veronese. Here we are 450 meters above sea level. Bettinelle, instead, lays at 350 meters above sea level. Spiazzi vineyards are the highest in the area of Verona and are located at an average altitude of 850 meters ASL, considered high altitude.
Le Civaie Estate Lugana
Our Lugana vineyards are grown respecting the biodiversity at the fullest, in accordance with the Biodiversity Friend protocol. Our wines borns in a place of rare beauty. At the base of San Martino della Battaglia tower, it is possible to spot the Lake Garda in the distance. Here, the typical white clays, give origin to grapes and wines of unique quality.
Geographical Location
The vineyards of our Le Civaie Estate, are distributed in two different areas of the Lugana Denomination, in the municipality of Pozzolengo and Desenzano, both in the well known Lombardy’s area. Here, we are in the southern part of the Lake Garda, below the famous Sirmione peninsula, known since the times of the latin poet Valerio Catullo. The name of this area comes from the fact that here there was a forest called “Selva Lucana”. This was before the land remediation operated by the Serenissima Repubblica of Venice in the 1400, who transformed it in fertile ground for cereals – from where come the name “Le Civaie”.
Climate
Even if the vineyards which compose our Lugana estate are quite distant one from the other, we cannot say that they are substantially influenced from specific local conditions, unless for the nearby presence of woods and reliefs. Therefore we can say that in the whole Lugana denomination the microclimate is heavily influenced by the presence of the Lake Garda, whose warm breezes grant and ideal climate due to its mildness and low incidence of the termic excursion between day and night. This is the ideal climate for the local varietal, the grape Turbiana.
Soil
The distribution of our vineyards in the two differnt municipality acquires more importance if we look at them in terms of soil. The vineyards located in Desenzano, are characterized by the precence of sedimentary clay, mainly of calcareous origin and rich in minerals. In this area the clay is more coriaceous than in Pozzolengo, and confers more minerality to the wine. In Pozzolengo, the soil is characterized by sandy clay and by the presence of low hills of morenic origin which have a good gravel presence. This confers freshness and volume to the wine.
Altitude
Also in terms of altitude the different distribution of the vineyards acquires significant importance. The area of Desenzano, in fact, shows a flat landscape. This is the heart of the Lugana denomination who grant a more typical style to the wine. The area of Pozzolengo, intstead, in particular the one at the base of San Martino della Battaglia tower, where our vineyards are located, shows a low hill landscape, where altitudes do not exceed 130 meters asl. Our vineyards are equally distributed between the two different area.
