Sassara Vini:
The soulful natural wine producer rethinking Bardolino

A 14 hectare estate on the slopes of Monte Mamaor at the southern end of the Bardolino DOC near Custoza, Sassara Vini is an exciting, soulful alternative to the usual commercial wine of the region. Of the 14 hectares, 10 are committed to organic and biodynamically farmed vineyards with the rest olive groves and woodlands. Alessia Bertaiola, an agricultural researcher, and her husband Stefano, 3rd generation winemaker, are the team behind the project. Stefano’s family have worked these complex soils – a mix of ancient ocean bed and morainic sediment – for over fifty years, the current duo taking full control in 2007. Their vineyards contain many old-vines of multiple local varieties with interesting genetics. Red grapes include Corvina, Rossanella, Rondinella and Molinara, while for whites there are Fernanda, Moscato, Trebbianello, Trebbiano, Garganega and Tocai. Sassara’s wines are produced skillfully via spontaneous ferments without temperature control, delivering brilliant fruit that is bursting with generous juice, minerality and lust for life. Through this authentic producer and their traditional, regional wines, you quickly realise that the past is, in fact, the future.