In the wine world, there are a lot of producers that come from multiple generations of grape growing and winemaking. To them, wine isn’t just a way of life, it is THE way of life. For Armando Castagnedi, co-owner of Tenuta Sant’Antonio in Valpolicella, this belief is the driving force behind the establishment of their business.
Armando and his three brothers grew up in a small village in the eastern part of Valpolicella, where their father Antonio was a grape grower for the local wine cooperative. The brothers worked with Antonio and as wine consultants for many years, but they also wanted to make their own wines and not just grow grapes. Their father never agreed.
So, naturally, the brothers purchased a plot of land on Monti Garbi in 1989, and started Tenuta Sant’Antonio; the first vintage was 1995.
‘Garbi’ in the local dialect means not prolific, which depicts how poor the soil was considered. This was also on the eastern side of Valpolicella near Soave, far from the more recognized traditional region of Valpolicella Classico on the west side. But they saw the potential, and believed they could produce Valpolicella wines that matched the quality from what they remembered growing up. Their efforts were rewarded with wines that are incredibly balanced with great levels of acid and fruit intensity.
While traditional Valpolicella DOC red wines are known to be light and refreshing, Tenuta Sant’Antonio’s entry level ‘Nanfre’ Valpolicella DOC 2023 had amazing acid and depth that gave the wine more character than just a simple chillable sipper. Part of it is attributable to the soil, high in calcium carbonate, which imparts higher acidity and bolder cherry characters.
Even their ‘Monti Garbi’ Valpolicella Ripasso Superiore DOC 2021 is incredibly vibrant. Usually, Ripasso wines are medium to full body that have plummy and strewed red fruit characters, but can easily be a little flabby in texture. This is because making Ripasso wine incorporates grape skins used in making Amarone, which has incredibly concentrated and dense flavors. This Ripasso’s acid structure is able to lift the wine to make it feel brighter and less dense than usual.
To Armando, this is the type of balanced wine they hope can showcase how approachable and appreciable the wines from Valpolicella can be. Although they are thankful that consumers adore the luscious Amarone / Ripasso wines, they want Sant’Antonio to be a different kind of wine that stands apart from what the region is recognized for. Much like when they decided to start the winery 30 years ago, Armando and his brothers wanted to do something more than just what’s done in the past.
(Armando Castagnedi, right)
