A visit to Corte dei Venti
History of vineyards, Brunello and strong women

Corte dei Venti News 12 Oct 2020

During a stroll in Montalcino, venturing towards the south-east area of this Tuscan town known all over the world for Brunello wine, I arrived at La Corte dei Venti, at once, a historical and fresh winery.

Clara, the owner, welcomes me. She immediately reveals her businesswoman side, busy, thoughtful, and sometimes above all strong. Strong of that awareness that distinguishes businesswomen who know that to succeed in their business, they will have to run more than their male competitors, to demonstrate greater tenacity and a little bit more determination.

We start talking and I ask her to tell me the story of her winery.

"Corte dei Venti winery has a long history, it was born from a Piancornello junction, the farm of my grandparents who initially raised cattle and traded in grain and wheat. My grandfather planted the first vineyards even though he never made wine. He left everything in the hands of his daughters who decided to create a cellar and a winery. My mother founded Piancornello bottling then, as often happens in large families, we decided to divide the land and the Corte dei Venti was born ".

What kind of farm is Corte dei Venti?
"Corte dei Venti has 5 hectares of vineyards and 2 hectares still to be planted, we produce Terre Rosse, Rosso di Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino and from next year we will have a Brunello Vigna and a small Sant'Antimo. It is in an extremely windy area both in winter and in summer. This is a positive aspect as it allows us to always have healthy grapes but, it also creates some problems because there is not enough water in summer. Fortunately, thanks to our good work on the land, we are able to collect enough water to face even the summer without irrigating. I am particularly proud of this because I have always carried on a personal battle against irrigation in the vineyard ".

(And here we notice all the female determination) When I ask her why she is against irrigation, we understand all the love Clara has for her land and her vineyards.

"I strongly believe that those who work with the land should not go against nature, and irrigation is a stretch because the vine finds all the necessary water in the soil, of course. Furthermore, the vine loses the natural fruitiness of the grapes by irrigating. Even if it's not a winery registered in the organic sector, at Corte dei Venti, we only work in a natural way and with organic treatments to offer a high- quality natural product ".

Was there or were there any particularly difficult moments?

“It is never easy. Surely having changed the company brand by giving birth to Corte dei Venti has created different problems for me because I had to start from scratch and make my wines known. In particular, I tried to involve journalists from the wine world, also inviting them to come and find out what's at Corte dei Venti".

Walking we find ourselves in a beautiful stone room, typical of the ancient buildings of this land. I look around and the walls are full of important awards: gold and silver medals awarded by important names in wine such as WineEnthusiast, Tre Bicchieri, Merum , Falstaff… All these awards?

Clara reveals a smile of deep satisfaction but lowers her gaze before answering as if to hide a small hint of emotion.

“There are many awards, even unexpected ones which obviously elate me and repay all the sacrifices. I owe a lot to my land, a land that gives us a high quality, healthy and natural wine. In fact, our wines reflect our vineyards, without too many special processes or treatments ".

A little also thanks to you, not just to earth ...
“As I said, starting from scratch, I tried to promote Corte dei Venti wines, sending them to wine journalists and inviting them to come to the winery. There is not much to visit here, we are in an outlying area of Montalcino and you have to come on purpose but, once you arrive you discover everything that is behind our wines, all the love we put into producing them. For me, it is essential that people come to the winery, in fact, I take great care of the tastings. I always try to personally welcome those who arrive for tastings, we start the journey in the vineyard in any season because I think the vineyard is the backbone of our wine. We then move on to our small cellar and warehouse where the aging in the bottle takes place so that people can understand the whole journey of wine. After this tour, you arrive here, in the tasting room and start tasting the wines. Our range consists of five wines for which I prefer to also offer some simple accompanying dishes such as bruschetta with our oil, cheeses and cold cuts from our territory. "

At this point, I enjoy my tasting starting from the bruschetta with Corte dei Venti oil to the rich chopping board but above all the excellent wines.

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A visit to Corte dei Venti
History of vineyards, Brunello and strong women

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