Cantina A. Martinelli 1860
A day in the life at a natural winery in Mezzocorona
In November, I spent a month in the North of Italy. I rented an apartment in Turin, mainly to experience life in another city in Italy and to be in closer proximity to a few wineries I had plans to visit. One in Emilia-Romagna, one in Tuscany and one Trentino.
As many of you know my hobby is finding like minded women who champion Italian wine in the ways that I do. So how do I find these people, you ask? In the case of Cantina A. Martinelli, a friend had posted about their wine on Instagram and tagged someone named Victoria Walls, a Canadian who was our age who worked at this winery. Victoria immediately responded to my unsolicited dm on Instagram and graciously invited me to (what I learned to be) her family’s estate in Trentino.
The thing about wine writers…is that we fall into two different camps. One includes writers that get invited on press trips to large wineries and regions through sponsorships, with the promise that they will write about their experiences. The accommodations, travel and meals are organized for them. In my experience these writers don’t have much say in the way of seeking out off the beaten path places for themselves, rather taking opportunities that are offered to them. And then there’s me (and others who have inspired me - I write about them here) a solo traveler, writer and sustainable wine expert who will fund + organize an entire trip by herself to a remote region, to meet with a winemaker she has never met, all in effort to learn about wine from the source.
So here’s how this trip went:
From Turin I took the train to Verona where I booked a bed in a hostel for two days. The train from Verona to Mezzocorona was just over an hour, versus a train from Turin would be about four hours. In Verona, I settled in, visited my favorite beer bar in town, grabbed dinner somewhere and went to bed early. I arrived in Mezzocorona, around 10am after what was the most scenic train ride. Vineyards visible from the train window, smacked up against the cliffs that make you question your place in the world. In a good way. Victoria met me at the train station, doggy in tow, and we walked into the center of town for breakfast. After a quintessential cappuccino and cornetto, we went to visit one of their vineyards. What she failed to mention was that the vineyard was on top of one of those aforementioned cliffs.
On the train.
The region of Trento is close to the Swiss and Austrian border, and by the aesthetic of the town, the homes, and the streets, I would have never guessed we were in Italy. We packed ourselves in a cable car that, by Italian standards, can fit up to 7 people (my standards = 2) and zipped upwards. We went up nearly 1,000 meters in less than 2 minutes. This ride was not for the faint of heart, however it was a major attraction in this town. The main event was at the top of the cliff, where a skywalk had been built.
Riding the cable car.
Cantina A. Martinelli is a staple in this region, with history dating back to the 1860s. The entire story can be read on their website. In 2010, sons Guilio and Andrea restored the entire estate, and took over winery operations from their father. It is now equal parts, full-functioning modern winery, and personal family museum. The old wine cellar holds vintage farming equipment and winemaking tools like old basket presses and giant barriques. Victoria shared with me some of the old family documents and invoices she found during the renovation. They even built an event space that is perfect for weddings, and private events. In a world of travel companies, and tour agencies, especially those that highlight their partnerships with wineries, I am always shocked how places as beautiful as this still remain off the radar of mass tourism. Maybe this is for the best because mass-tourism has proven to do more harm than good on wine regions, businesses and people. However, I want Victoria and her family to be able to share their incredible history and story with people AND profit from it. They are a business after all.
Cantina A. Martinelli produces a few white wines with Chardonnay (one of the most popular and lucrative grapes in this region), plus another grape called Souvignier Gris (see below for more details). However, they pride themselves in Teroldego. A red grape that thrives in this cooler, wetter climate and results in full-bodied, age-worthy reds.
I had never heard of Souvignier Gris before my visit. Victoria described it to me as a grape bred to be fungus-resistant because mold is a major issue in this wet, cold region. Remember that cable car that took us to the top of the cliff? That’s where the family has a mountain house and there is a vineyard in front of the house which is home to this Souvignier Gris. This vineyard gets a good amount of sunshine in the summer, but on this day, we were faced with a good amount of fog. There is a lot of debate in the natural wine community that breeded/hybrid grapes go against some of the “natural philosophies” such as promoting native grapes from their respective regions. This grape technically is not “natural” however because it was bred to be fungal-resistant however there is no need for sprays of any kind, even organic sprays. My question to natural wine advocates is ‘Which one is more important, breeding or spraying?’
Vineyard on a cliff.
We opened a bottle of wine made from these Souvignier Gris grapes, it was a bottle from Victoria’s own line of natural wine. Souvignier Gris is made with natural fermentation methods called Biancomonte. She also makes an orange wine with the same grapes called Orangemonte.
Bottle of Biancomonte.
Back at the winery, we tasted their entire line-up of wines. Teroldego, old, new and rosé. We walked around the property and Victoria showed me some of the ground-level vineyards. They still had leaves on the vines, but few as the harvest had ended a few weeks ago. Still a vineyard is beautiful anytime of year.
Line-up of wines.
