Guglielmo Bertani of famed winemaking family Bertani tells of fighting for his family vineyards, of aspiring for authentic Amarone and of new beginnings as Tenuta Santa Maria
In fair Verona, where the Capulets and Montagues once fought, the vineyards have provided fertile grounds for another kind of internal warfare. We lay our scene at Villa Mosconi in Veneto where the Bertani family had long crossed swords over the details and direction of the family winery.
For five generations the Bertani family have been making wine, though it was not without its tensions, as fifth generation winemaker Guglielmo Bertani attests. His father, Gaetano, was one of four, and while he and his brother worked in the winery, his two sisters were unsure of their place. The only thing that could be agreed, was that everyone wanted a say. There were arguments over how the winery should be run, how the vineyards should be managed and how the flagship Amarone should be made. “Everything was starting to be polluted by hard feelings,” says Guglielmo.
Eventually, one side of the family cracked, went behind Gaetano’s back and sold out, avoiding the right to first refusal that should have been offered to Gaetano, and handing their shares over to a big pharmaceutical group in Rome. Gaetano and his sons found themselves at philosophical odds with these new and unexpected partners, and, finding it unbearable to be in business with a giant of commerce who lacked true love for their wine and their traditions, set about splitting the business.
For Guglielmo, his brother and his father, wine was in their blood. Growing up amidst the vineyards, Guglielmo reminisces, “the thing I remember most is the smell of wine, the smell of vinification. It’s a smell you only find in wineries, the smell of corks, of must, of grape juice at the time of harvest, the smell of wood. Those are my first memories.”