About Ca' Rugate
Ca' Rugate is the Tessari family winery at Montecchia di Crosara, on the volcanic hills east of Verona between the Alpone and Illasi valleys. The family has grown grapes here for four generations and built its name on Soave from the Rugate hills before extending the same care to the red varieties of the Valpolicella territory. The house works estate fruit throughout, with garganega on the white side and Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella on the red, and its wines are known for cleanliness, balance and honest pricing rather than spectacle.
Prices are for take away and shipping. The wine bar serves from its own list.
The winery
About Ca' Rugate
History
The Tessari family tells its story from the early 1900s, when Amedeo Tessari began supplying wine to the family inn. Around 1950 his son Fulvio, known as Beo, bought vineyards in the Monte Fiorentine area and built the first winery at Rugate, with concrete vats and large barrels. The first bottles labelled Ca' Rugate appeared in 1986, and the wines soon reached markets outside Italy.
In 2001 Michele Tessari, the fourth generation and a trained oenologist, reorganised the company. A new winery opened at Montecchia di Crosara in September 2002, and a museum of farming culture followed in 2006.
The land and the vineyards
Ca' Rugate works in three denominations of Verona province: Soave Classico, Valpolicella and Lessini Durello. The estate bought its first 15 hectares in Valpolicella in the early 2000s and invested in the Lessini Durello area in 2008. Today it owns 90 hectares of vineyards.
In 2004 all vineyards moved to sustainable methods: chemical fertilisers gave way to cattle manure on a rotation of three to five years, organic soil conditioners and organo mineral fertilisers. The website has a section on biological production, and in 2013 the winery entered the independent winegrowers of Soave, part of FIVI.
The wines
The range covers white, sparkling, red and sweet wines. Soave Classico is the home wine, Valpolicella brings the reds, and Lessini Durello gives a Metodo Classico sparkling wine from the local Durella grape. The site also lists Studio di Turbiàn, grappas and olive oil.
Today
Wines from Ca' Rugate go to 98 Italian provinces and 42 markets abroad. At Montecchia di Crosara visitors can walk the vineyards, see the farm that teaches school groups, visit the enomuseum and taste, and the estate has rooms for wine tourism. A wine club serves online buyers.
- Founded
- Early 1900s (Amedeo Tessari); label from 1986
- Area
- Montecchia di Crosara, Verona
- Vineyards (hectares)
- 90
- Main grapes
- Durella (Lessini Durello)
- Owners
- Tessari family
- Winemaker
- Michele Tessari