Azienda Agricola Rezzadore

About an hour west of Venice, in the Berici Hills of central Veneto, Giuseppe Rezzadore greets us with a quiet, confident smile. He is standing on the epic terroir that’s been in his family for 6 generations: an ancient seabed of compacted fossils, shells, sand and mud. The high-draining soil plus a sunny climate make for ripe, mineral, complex wines. The picturesque estate offers sweeping views of the Po Valley, and it’s where Giuseppe raises his family and makes his wines. Only his brother, Luca, helps him in the vineyards. Giuseppe does all of the winemaking himself. He good-naturedly jokes that the best time to finally catch up on (administrative) work is on vacation!

Farming with respect for nature is critical for Giuseppe, and he proudly took on the time-consuming and expensive process to obtain official certification. The vineyards are dry-farmed and biodiversity is encouraged. Birds like the hoopoe and the pheasant live on property and they are featured on the labels. A gorgeous, 200-year-old Celtis tree watches over the vines.

The wines are small production and made with minimal intervention. All grapes are hand-harvested. The local Tai Rosso undergoes a 10 day cold soak maceration at 5° c before pressing. It’s a vibrant red with body, texture and color that is great slightly chilled. In addition to Tai Rosso (a very close relation to Grenache) and Glera for Prosecco, Cabernet, Merlot, Carmenere and Pinot Noir are also grown. It’s the Pinot that adds color to Giuseppe’s Rosé Prosecco. Both of his organic, grower Proseccos spend time on the lees. The quality markedly surpasses the mostly-mass produced wines available on the local market. Accordingly, Giuseppe chooses to export 100% of his Prosecco.

In addition to running his family’s historic estate (it was seized by the Germans as a vantage point during WWII), Giuseppe consults with other winemakers, helping them grow and improve in the vineyards and the cellar. Conversation with him is smart, meaningful, honest and immediately comfortable—and he speaks excellent English, lucky for us. Rezzadore is a testament to Bonhomie’s mission to bring you great wines from great people!

The Wines

Tai Rosso

100% Tocai Rosso from South facing vines in Lonigo. Hand harvested. 10 day maceration in stainless steel at 5°c before whole cluster pressing. Stainless steel fermentation for 12 days at 16°c. Délestage and rested 6 months. After bottling, rested 3 months.
Rezzadore Prosecco Front Label 2014 (1)

Prosecco D.O.C.

100% Glera from South, south-east facing vines in Lonigo. Hand harvested with rigorous sorting before pneumatic pressing. Stainless steel fermentation and rests on lees 6 months before secondary fermentation. Charmat method followed by two months aging in tank.
Rezzadore Rose Prosecco (1)

Prosecco Rosé D.O.C.

90% Glera, 10% Pinot Noir. Five to six days skin contact in stainless steel at 22° c, followed by first fermentation. The Glera and and the Pinot Noir are fermented separately. Secondary fermentation by Charmat method followed by three months aging in tank.