The Berici Hills

Ancient seismic events create an ideal vineyard soil.

The Colli Berici is a range of hills located in the central part of the Veneto region of Italy, situated roughly between the Lessinian mountains and the Prealpi. These lush Italian slopes were formed due to an ancient geological event called a bradyseism. A bradyseism is a very slow seismic movement that traps superheated gas under the soil creating a ridge rather than a volcano. The resulting 'terrarossa' soil is rich in minerals and elements such as iron oxide, making it ideal for producing dark red wines.

The grape has been cultivated here for many centuries. In fact, grape pips indicating primitive forms of grape pressing have been found here dating back to the Bronze Age over three thousand years ago.

The first rules for growing vines in the area were handed down to the Adige civilisation by the Etruscans and became widespread between 950 and 500 B.C. Subsequently it was the Romans, being already experienced in agricultural technology, who systematically launched the production of vines for making wine. But the first written evidence of wines in the Colli Berici comes to us from a Greek sophist, Atheneus, who lived in Rome between the 2nd and 3rd centuries and pointed out their perceptable merits, judging them to be palatable and pleasing wines.

This particular 'terrarossa' soil encourages an optimal production of desirable compounds in the berries during ripening which include colour, flavour, and a perfect acid/tannin balance. In fact the Colli Berici is the earliest D.O.C. for Cabernet and Merlot in Italy.