Summary
Bertani is one of the oldest and most influential wine houses in Valpolicella. Founded in 1857 in the Valpantena valley near Verona, the house shaped the dry Valpolicella style early on and is among the pioneers of Amarone della Valpolicella Classico: the first vintage, 1958, came from Tenuta Novare in Arbizzano di Negrar, which remains the heart of production to this day. Bertani is known for a classic, long-aged Amarone with fine acidity rather than heavy sweetness – and for a library of old vintages that has few equals in the region. Since 2013 the house has been part of Angelini Wines & Estates.
History
The story begins in 1857, when the brothers Giovan Battista and Gaetano Bertani founded their winery in the Valpantena valley north-east of Verona. Gaetano had trained in France under Jules Guyot, one of the fathers of modern oenology, and brought his ideas on pruning, training and cellar hygiene back to Verona. It paid off: as early as the 19th century Bertani produced a dry red wine, Secco-Bertani, at a time when sweet Recioto still dominated Valpolicella. The house's Soave also gained an early reputation – it is said to have been served at the coronation of King George VI in 1937.
In the 1950s the family acquired Villa Novare, an 18th-century neoclassical country estate in Arbizzano di Negrar. There, with the 1958 vintage, it made one of the first Amarone Classico wines marketed as a dry wine in its own right. Since 2013 Bertani has belonged to the Angelini Group and is the flagship of its wine division, Angelini Wines & Estates.
Location & Terroir
Bertani works in two classic parts of Valpolicella. The headquarters in Grezzana lies in the Valpantena valley, a cooler side valley open to the south. The heart of the house, however, is Tenuta Novare in Valpolicella Classica: an estate of around 200 hectares, of which roughly 65 hectares are planted with vines, partly on traditional terraces known as marogne.
The soils are remarkably diverse: Eocene limestone and marl dominate, joined by clay, red and white limestone and pockets of volcanic basalt. The hills north of Verona benefit from the moderating influence of nearby Lake Garda and from cool winds off the Lessini Mountains – conditions that bring freshness and structure to the wines. Bertani also owns vineyards in the Soave area and around Lake Garda.
Style & Philosophy
The house motto runs roughly: continuity of style means being contemporary. Bertani stands for a classic Amarone: after harvest the grapes – mainly Corvina Veronese and Rondinella – are dried on racks for several months (appassimento), then fermented slowly and aged for many years in large wooden casks. The aim is not a sweetish, jammy style but a dry, cool, spicy Amarone with lively acidity and great ageing potential.
This approach shapes the entire range. Secco-Bertani is now made in the Original Vintage Edition following a historic model, while the Valpolicella Classico Superiore wines emphasise fruit and freshness. Among the whites, Garganega from Soave takes centre stage.
Notable Sites & Wines
The range extends from simple Valpolicella to the single-vineyard wines of Tenuta Novare. The best-known wines include:
- Amarone della Valpolicella Classico – the flagship, first vintage 1958, released only after long ageing
- Secco-Bertani Original Vintage Edition – a dry red based on a 19th-century recipe
- Ognisanti di Novare – single-vineyard Valpolicella Classico Superiore from a terraced plot at Tenuta Novare
- Villa Novare – Valpolicella Classico Superiore from the home estate in Arbizzano di Negrar
- Soave from Garganega, plus Recioto as the region's sweet tradition
Awards
Bertani is one of the reference addresses for Amarone and regularly earns high scores in Italian and international wine guides. The mature vintages from the house library are especially sought after: vertical tastings spanning several decades, for example by the British magazine Decanter, show how well a classically made Amarone can age. In this way Bertani has contributed significantly to cementing Valpolicella's reputation as a source of great, long-lived red wines.
