Everything started in 2011, in a very simple way: friends who, out of pure passion, produce their own wine at home, some in the cellar and some in the garage. They organize evenings to blindly taste their wines, to exchange opinions, receive advice, to have a good time. Until one of them, Raimondo, takes the initiative and strives to recover one of the oldest vineyards in Breganze. Some of the group assist him in the vineyard and in the cellar, eventually a very interesting wine comes out and the excellent result of this individual project gives new enthusiasm and vitality to the Canevists.
And the group then begins to structure itself better …
Yes, we have become an association. We have also drawn up a manifesto: among the points we have most at heart are the protection of the environment – trying to use synthetic chemistry as little as possible – the battle for biodiversity and the cultivation of native vineyards, as well as respect for the age of the vineyard: in our manifesto we affirm that ” the canevista considers his own old age and that of his vineyard as an absolute value to be reached and maintained “.
Speaking of biodiversity, you have a cutting-edge project at stake!
Exact. It is that of the ” Vineyard of History “. In the spring of 2016 we started the plant and the subsequent collective management of a vineyard created with only rare and indigenous varieties of Breganze and its surroundings, including the following: Rabiosa, Gruaja, Groppello, Pedevenda, Garganega, Dorona, Occhio di Pernice, Marzemina Bianca, Oto Cai, Negrara and Senese. Some of these vines had been forgotten by everyone, except for some elderly winegrowers in the area.
How do you deal with the vineyard?
The vineyard is managed collectively by us of the association, and this is already a challenge .Then the conduction is entirely natural , without the use of synthetic chemistry. We also tried to involve the people of the area, launching a campaign to adopt the vines, which allowed us to promote the project and its aims, as well as to guarantee us the financial support necessary to proceed with the plant.
Meanwhile the Canevisti have grown, at the beginning they were almost all hobbist and instead today there are also producers for profession among you.
Yes, in a few years the situation has evolved profoundly. There are Montegoggio, Antica Torre del Roccolo, MaterVi and us from Rarefratte . With the Canevists we have sown a good seed! But the most spectacular thing is the dialogue that has been created within the association, intergenerational in the first place: twenty-three and 82-year-olds participate in our evenings. The interweaving of stories that is created, the exchange of knowledge and experiences, the transmission of traditions are the extraordinary features of these moments.
