The Italian specialists

Enotria Winecellars has carved an enviable niche for itself, having successfully supplied the UK with the best Italian wines for more than 30 years

SINCE Enotria’s foundation in 1972 Remo Nardone and his team have been passionate about the sourcing and distribution of the finest Italian wines.  This passion has stood the test of time and Enotria Winecellars now represents over 65 Italian producers ranging from boutique Piemontese producers like La Spinetta and Roberto Voerzio to large, innovative cooperatives such as Cantine Settesoli and Cantine Valpantena.

Enotria Winecellars provides wines to every sector of the UK trade with the same attention to detail and outstanding service that has always been the company’s hallmark. Its joint venture with Cantine Settesoli, which makes it responsible for the global sales and marketing of all Settesoli’s bottled wines, gives it a unique insight into the world wine market and its opportunities.

2005 marks Enotria’s 34th year of trading and, with it, an opportunity to reflect on how far Italy has come.  It also gives Enotria an opportunity to review Italy’s diverse winemaking regions and to assess its producers’ current situation and future potential.

Piemonte and the Northwest

Enotria’s Piemontese portfolio is varied and multi award winning.  The historic Fontanafredda property has, under the guiding hand of Danilo Drocco, progressed from a sinecure for retired bank managers to one of the most dynamic and forward thinking fine wine producers in the whole of Italy. Revised packaging and branding have signalled a sea change in quality and Fontanafredda now regularly wins tre bicchieri in the widely regarded Gambero Rosso Guide.

With such significant vineyard holdings the future at Fontanafredda looks extremely bright and sponsorship of the Turin Winter Olympic Games in 2006 will allow Fontanafredda to re-launch itself on the global wine scene.

To complement Fontanafredda, Enotria represents the wines of Matteo Ascheri, a charming bear of a man, whose dream to create a total experience at his estate in Bra has led to the completion of Osteria and Hotel, two wonderful places to visit.

Matteo’s success and his team’s work in the vineyard and winery were rewarded in 2004 with the IWC Italian White Wine Award for the properties Roero Arneis.  The jewels in Enotria’s Piemontese portfolio are represented by the outstanding domaine of Roberto Voerzio, Chiara Boschis (E Pira), Conterno Fantino, Marco Parusso and Giorgio Rivetti (La Spinetta). All are now working at the very top of their form and are encapsulating Piemonte’s finest winemaking talent.

The Triveneto

The Triveneto, comprising the regions of Trentino Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia Giulia and the Veneto, is the engine room of Enotria Winecellars’ Italian portfolio.  

Crucial to Enotria’s success in this region is the balance between innovative cooperative producers such as Colterenzio, Cantine Valpantena and Montecchia, capable of producing ever increasing quality at extremely competitive prices, and outstanding single estates with handcrafted wines that epitomise the growing importance of quality and regional identity, ideals brought to the market by Silvio Jermann, Giovanni Puiatti and Vistorta.

Tuscany

Enotria’s Tuscan portfolio presents a veritable roll call of Italy’s most famous wine names: Brolio/Ricasoli, Fonterutoli, Brancaia, Poliziano, Il Poggione and Barbi all rub shoulders in this outstanding area of Enotria’s portfolio. History and commercial success have not, however, led to stagnation among these famous names.

Brolio/Ricasoli has celebrated the 10th anniversary under the stewardship of Barone Francesco Ricasoli and has all but completed a total replanting programme set to make the estate the envy of all.

Castello di Fonterutoli has completed a breathtaking winery which will allow ever greater quality to flow from this already stella outfit and has embarked on an ambitious new project in the Maremma (Tenuta Belguardo) which is already producing worldclass wines.

This investment in the Maremma, Tuscany’s coastal region and new winemaking frontier, is one that many of our producers are undertaking with wines already successfully released to market by Poliziano, Brancaia and Fonterutoli, and one that with hard work will undoubtedly pay dividends.

Central Italy

Umani Ronchi was one of Enotria’s very first agencies appointed in the early 1970’s and over 30 years it has grown to become one of its most important and dynamic estates.

Under the guidance of father and son Massimo and Michele Bernetti, Umani Ronchi has grown to become a major player in Verdicchio, Montepulciano D’Abruzzo and Rosso Conero.

A new winemaking team and updated packaging, coming on line throughout 2005, will provide the foundations for many more successful years to come. 

Southern Italy and the Islands

Southern Italy and the Islands is an area long pioneered by Enotria Winecellars and it now represents some of the region’s undisputed heavyweights alongside some up and coming stars.

Of those established icons of the mezzogiorno: Planeta continues to go from strength to strength with vineyard expansion in the east of Sicily, innovative market-driven training programmes and critical and consumer acclaim; Librandi continues to successfully pioneer the native varieties of Calabria, and Santadi produces wonderfully commercial wines from Sardinia’s Vermentino and Carignano.

A resurgent Cantine Settesoli on Sicily’s southwest coast continues to combine outstanding quality and value for money, while Paternoster, Candido and Botromagno pioneer the less fashionable areas of Basilicata and Puglia.

For more details of Enotria Winecellars’ outstanding range please contact either Benjamin Llewelyn (Director of Business Development) or Damian Carrington (Head of Marketing) on 020 8961 4411 or e-mail marketing@enotria.co.uk

Chardonnay Cornell Colterenzio High in the Alto Adige the co-operative of Colterenzio is one of Italy’s finest.  Its Cornell range is sourced from outstanding single vineyard sites and the Chardonnay is quite astonishing with great richness allied to subtlety and elegance.