Cappuccina

The Buri estate and its chapel

A surviving map dated 1655 depicts the entire property then owned by the noble Burri family. Villa Buri-Tessari was built around 1650 as an agricultural Venetian-villa complex. The ensemble comprises the principal residence, agricultural outbuildings, cellars, a barchessa and a private chapel; rooms inside the central building retain frescoes with lively scenes inspired by rural life.

The Burri counts petitioned Bishop Sebastiano Venier of Vicenza for permission to construct a church or public oratory on their Costalunga property because their residence was distant from the parish church and the road was difficult in winter. On 11 November 1725, the Vicar General personally inspected the completed oratory and found it properly built and supplied in accordance with diocesan rules. The consecrated chapel was dedicated to San Giovanni Battista. Its façade later furnished the silhouette used in La Cappuccina’s logo.

Capuchin friars are traditionally believed to have officiated in the chapel. Their association gave the property its name, La Cappuccina. The family continues to celebrate the Nativity of San Giovanni Battista on 24 June with Mass and customs connected to the summer solstice.

Foundation and the Tessari family

The Tessari family founded La Cappuccina in 1890 and has made wine at Costalunga di Monteforte d’Alpone ever since. The property passed into Tessari ownership around the turn of the twentieth century and became the seat of the family agricultural business.

Attilio Tessari, born in Monteforte d’Alpone on 9 February 1891, became an innovative farmer, tobacco grower and winegrower. He was among the founding members of the Soave cooperative winery before choosing to devote himself fully to his own cellar. Working with his son Lorenzo, he vinified the family’s grapes and established the reputation of La Cappuccina. Attilio was also among the first local growers to establish single-variety Garganega vineyards trained on pergolas, replacing the older mixed system in which vines were supported by mulberry and cherry trees. The family remembers his reserve wines of Vin Santo and Recioto.

Attilio’s life also encompassed military and civic service. He served with the Alpini from the First World War, received the Silver Medal of Military Valor for action at Cima Lozza on Monte Ortigara, helped found Alpini associations in Verona and the local area, and served as mayor of Monteforte d’Alpone from 1950 to 1952. Two of his brothers, Luigi Tessari and Pietro Tessari, died during the First World War. Attilio supported the creation of a monument to them in Costalunga’s central square.

In 1946, Attilio became a patron of the Monteforte painter Alessandro Zenatello, who frescoed the family chapel and Villa Buri-Tessari that year.

Lorenzo and the next generation

Lorenzo Tessari worked beside Attilio in the cellar and later passed the family’s attachment to nature and environmental responsibility to his children. He closely followed the vineyards, inspecting ripening before harvest, maintaining the rows personally and teaching moderation in wine consumption.

In 1985, La Cappuccina became one of Italy’s early adopters of certified organic production and the first estate in Soave to experiment with the method throughout the chain, from growing grapes through bottling. The estate was among the first inspected operators and holds controlled-operator number V019. The decision was initially regarded as utopian by some contemporaries but became a permanent basis of the family’s farming and production.

The current fourth generation consists of siblings Sisto, Pietro and Elena Tessari, who succeeded Lorenzo. Pietro trained as an oenologist at Conegliano, Elena studied Economics and Commerce and directs marketing, and Sisto studied Agricultural Sciences at Padua and represents the estate abroad.

Cellar development and environmental infrastructure

A modern winery was built against Monte Capitello behind Villa Buri. Its underground barrel cellar rests on the mountain’s basalt bedrock and is naturally cool, quiet and protected from vibration. The walls are decorated with a chain of vines culminating in a mother vine represented by the estate’s approximately 300-year-old mulberry tree.

The first photovoltaic installation was placed on the winery roof in 2010. A subsequent Parco Agrisolare project expanded the photovoltaic area to 600 m² with approximately 150 modules, increasing capacity from 20 kW to 90 kW. The target is 100,000 kWh of clean electricity annually, enough to cover the winery’s energy requirements and create a surplus for the grid. The estate described the 2024 harvest as the first supported by the completed, fully energy-autonomous system.

The family has also undertaken a transition toward biodynamic agriculture while retaining its certified-organic foundation. Current management links this development to its long-term objective of protecting soil life, biodiversity and the agricultural landscape.

Certified-organic foundation

Certified-organic methods have governed the entire chain from vineyard cultivation to bottling since 1985. La Cappuccina was among the first Italian estates, and the first in Soave, to experiment with this complete approach. Its controlled-operator number is V019. The objective is to preserve the original health of the soil and sustain microbial life down to the root zone without altering the surrounding environment through synthetic treatments.

Herbicides, chemical fertilizers and synthetic pesticides are excluded. Vine protection uses natural copper- and sulphur-based treatments, while fertility is maintained with natural organic amendments.

Soil cover, green manure and biodiversity

Permanent or managed vegetation is maintained between the rows. Green manure is established by sowing legumes, grasses, herbs and flowers, including in alternating rows at San Brizio. The cover fixes nitrogen naturally, feeds and regenerates the soil, improves softness and workability, retains water and supports pollinating and beneficial insects, particularly bees and ladybirds.

The estate links these practices to a broader biodiversity programme. Its olive grove, woodland, centuries-old park, gardens, fruit trees and vineyard flora form part of the agricultural property.

Canopy, planting and yields

Newer or converted vineyards use vertical Guyot training, high planting densities and restricted yields. Older traditional pergola vineyards are retained where appropriate. Short pruning is used in these older sites to restrain the natural vigour of Garganega. Selection is carried out continuously in the vineyard, and fruit for San Brizio is selected at harvest for both health and maturity.

Across the estate, density ranges from 3,500 to 5,400 vines/ha, yields from approximately 70 to 45 hl/ha, and vine age from 20–30 years to more than 40 years; Monte Stelle includes vines described as approximately 60 years old.

Biodynamic direction

Alongside certified organic management, the estate has undertaken conversion toward biodynamic agriculture and characterizes its outlook as biodynamic in spirit. Bottling is scheduled, where possible, in harmony with lunar phases.

Winery and cellar

The modern winery stands against Monte Capitello behind Villa Buri and combines contemporary production technology with the historic estate. Its barrel cellar is set into the mountain on basalt bedrock. The underground environment is naturally conditioned and protects stored wine from vibration and noise. Ancient lava flows remain visible in the cellar.

The barrel-cellar walls carry a frescoed chain of vines culminating in a mother vine represented by the estate’s approximately 300-year-old mulberry tree.

Cellar practices

Sulphur dioxide is kept close to the minimum considered practicable, with particular attention to avoiding damaging oxidation. Natural inert materials are used for filtration. Bottling is undertaken, when possible, in accordance with lunar phases, after which wines are stored in the naturally cool underground basalt cellar.

Winery wastewater is treated through a phytoremediation system. Production stages including crushing, fermentation, stabilization, maturation and bottling, together with heating and cooling, are powered by the estate’s photovoltaic infrastructure.

Energy and quality systems

The expanded 90 kW photovoltaic installation occupies 600 m², incorporates approximately 150 modules and targets 100,000 kWh of clean generation per year. It is designed to meet the winery’s complete electricity demand and supply surplus power to the grid without sacrificing vineyard or other agricultural land.

Production is also covered by the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety and IFS Food Higher Level quality systems.

La Cappuccina’s declared objective is to enhance its territory and grapes while treating environmental care, consumer protection and wine quality as inseparable parts of the same system. The family describes its outlook as organic from the beginning, biodynamic at heart, with biodiversity and ecological sustainability at the centre of farming.

The estate favours high-density vineyards, controlled yields, short pruning and repeated selection in the vineyard. Modern oenological technology is accepted when it reduces environmental impact or protects quality; tradition is preserved through old pergola vineyards, lunar-phase bottling, the historic villa and cellar, and seasonal family rites.

The family seeks to maintain living soils rather than merely replace prohibited synthetic inputs. Green manure, row vegetation, organic fertility and habitats for beneficial insects are intended to keep the vineyard biologically active. In the cellar, restraint is expressed through minimal sulphur dioxide, natural filtration media and protected underground storage.

Sustainability extends beyond the bottle. The estate uses lightweight glass to reduce transport fuel and emissions, ecological recycled paper for printed material and separated collection for glass, plastic and paper. Renewable electricity, winery-water phytoremediation and healthy working environments for employees are treated as part of the same programme.

The current generation presents family continuity not as nostalgia but as an active inheritance: seasonal work, hospitality, food, shared meals, local traditions and environmental responsibility connect present-day decisions with the generations of Attilio and Lorenzo Tessari.