Tenuta dell’Anfiteatro

The family’s agricultural beginnings

The Cottini family’s agricultural history began in 1925, when Carlo Cottini established a farm in Fumane, Valpolicella. Vines shared the property with cherry, plum and apricot trees. In 1950, Carlo’s son Raffaello specialized in wine production and built a cellar in Fumane.

Establishment at Caprino Veronese

In 1965, Raffaello Cottini acquired the estate at Caprino Veronese. This property, within the Rivoli morainic amphitheatre near Lake Garda, became the enduring location of the family cellar and the estate now presented as Tenuta dell’Anfiteatro.

Raffaello’s sons succeeded him at the beginning of the 1980s. Diego Cottini subsequently developed his own production and stylistic direction, focused on the relationship among vineyard site, elevation and wine identity.

The present winery

Construction of the new Caprino cellar began in 1995. It became the operational centre for vinification, maturation, bottling and storage. Its hillside design integrates the building into the landscape and allows the production cycle to proceed from the upper to the lower levels with the assistance of gravity. Natural and local construction materials were used, including material recovered during excavation.

In 1998, Montezovo was established in its modern form under Diego Cottini. The hill of Monte Zovo, around which part of the estate’s vineyards and the Caprino cellar lie, supplied the name and a central sense of place.

Sustainability and the fourth generation

In spring 2013, the business obtained Biodiversity Friend certification, before completing its organic transition. It identifies itself as the first winery in the world certified under the Biodiversity Friend standard.

Since August 2018, the Cottini family’s vineyards have officially produced certified-organic grapes. The organic programme reduces pesticide use, relies on organic manure management and seeks greater physiological balance in the vines, lower waste and fewer residues in harvested grapes. Precision-viticulture and precision-harvest methods accompany the organic and biodiversity protocols.

In 2020, the winery received the Best of Wine Tourism award for sustainable practices.

The estate is now managed within a four-generation family structure. Diego and Annalberta Cottini continue the family tradition with their sons Michele and Mattia. Diego oversees the family’s vineyard holdings and the principal stages of grape growing; Annalberta promotes organic culture and biodiversity; Michele directs the cellar stages from grape reception through maturation, blending and bottling; and Mattia manages marketing, communication, public relations and hospitality.

Eastern Lake Garda and the Rivoli amphitheatre

Tenuta dell’Anfiteatro extends through the hinterland of Lake Garda, from the Rivoli morainic amphitheatre to the slopes of Monte Baldo. The cellar is at Caprino Veronese, surrounded by the gentle hills and vineyards of the amphitheatre. The estate’s three principal vineyard areas are Monte Zovo, Spiazzi and Bettinelle.

Monte Zovo surrounds the Caprino cellar on the northern section of the morainic ridge enclosing the Rivoli amphitheatre. Bettinelle lies on the floor of the amphitheatre at Rivoli Veronese. Spiazzi occupies a high, pre-Alpine position on Monte Baldo.

Elevation and microclimates

The sites span markedly different elevations. Monte Zovo is presented at approximately 450 m, Bettinelle at 350 m, and the Spiazzi vineyards at high altitude. The current estate presentation places Oltremonte, its highest vineyard, at 950 m.

Monte Zovo and Bettinelle receive constant breezes from the Adige Valley, which acts as a corridor for Alpine winds. Spiazzi experiences pronounced day–night temperature variation. Temperatures remain generally cool, but the nearby Lake Garda moderates them through its thermal influence. These contrasts create distinct microclimates across the three sites.

Soils

Monte Zovo and Bettinelle have morainic soils rich in calcareous rocks and pebbles. Their sedimentary material was deposited after the melting of the Adige glacier, the geological event associated with the formation of Lake Garda and the Rivoli morainic amphitheatre.

Spiazzi is rockier and predominantly calcareous, with loam-clay texture and an organic, sedimentary topsoil component in the individually documented high-altitude parcels. The estate associates the contrast between its morainic, pebble-rich lower sites and the rocky limestone soils of Spiazzi with the differing identities of its vineyard crus.

The entire estate is farmed organically and applies precision-viticulture and precision-harvest techniques. The Cottini family’s vineyards have officially produced certified-organic grapes since August 2018. Organic management is intended to reduce pesticide use, employ organic manure, encourage physiological balance in the vines, reduce waste and lower residues in grapes intended for processing.

The vineyards received Biodiversity Friend certification in spring 2013, before completion of the organic transition. This private standard, developed in 2010, evaluates the conservation of agricultural biodiversity. The business also adopted the National Quality System of Integrated Production, a system intended to minimize effects on the environment and consumer health.

Agronomic work is organized through a short, directly managed supply chain. Sustainable and precision practices are used to protect biodiversity and reduce synthetic inputs. Research also extends to resistant vines: Bettinelle is an experimental vineyard dedicated to resistant varieties, and the family is seeking vines capable of bringing chemical use in agriculture close to zero.

Harvest procedures vary with site and intended expression. Documented cru parcels are picked by hand. Crocevento is harvested into crates to keep bunches intact. Oltremonte bunches are selected and cooled in the vineyard before transport. Calinverno depends on prolonged natural over-ripening on the vine; weather and vintage conditions therefore determine whether the late harvest can take place in early November, while selection at picking and sorting on arrival further reduce yields.

The Caprino cellar has been the operational centre for vinification, maturation, bottling and storage since work on the new building began in 1995. It follows the natural form and slope of the hill: production proceeds from the upper to the lower levels, using gravity as an energy-saving aid. The building was integrated into the landscape with natural, local materials, including material recovered during excavation.

The supply chain is directly managed from estate-grown grapes to the finished product, without intermediaries. The family oversees harvest, grape reception, cellar processing, maturation, blending and bottling. Michele Cottini is responsible for the cellar stages, while Diego Cottini personally follows the principal vineyard operations.

Winemaking equipment documented for the estate includes temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks, barriques, tonneaux and truncated-conical wooden vats. White-wine processing includes gentle pressing, cold settling, low-temperature fermentation and maturation on fine lees with repeated bâtonnage. Red-wine processing includes destemming and crushing, controlled-temperature fermentation, pump-overs, draining and maturation in steel or wood according to the intended expression.

Calinverno represents the estate’s distinctive natural on-vine drying approach. Grapes remain on the vine beyond normal ripeness, sometimes until early November, and partially dehydrate under prevailing weather conditions. Rigorous selection at harvest and sorting on arrival compensate for the loss and concentration of berries. This method arose from Diego Cottini’s experimentation and is deliberately dependent on the conditions of each vintage.

The cellar is energy self-sufficient. Renewable electricity is generated by photovoltaic panels, heat by biomass boilers, and rainwater is recovered. Consumption and waste are reduced, materials are recycled and lower-impact packaging is selected.

The family defines terroir as the interaction of vineyard, soil, altitude, microclimate and human ingenuity. Its stated objective is to find harmony among these elements and translate the land into wines with fidelity and care.

Elevation is central to this approach. Diego Cottini has consistently favoured hillside vineyards, where vines follow natural rhythms and benefit from distinctive climatic conditions and temperature variation. Within Tenuta dell’Anfiteatro, that principle is expressed through the progression from the morainic amphitheatre to the high slopes of Monte Baldo.

Quality is treated as beginning with the raw material. Grapes are estate-grown, and the family personally supervises the production chain from harvest to finished wine. The declared values combine the humility of agricultural work, continuity between generations, respect for the surrounding community and the bond between winegrower and drinker.

Sustainability follows a “One Health” view connecting land, people and biodiversity. The programme is organized around care, awareness, consistency and concrete, measurable action. It encompasses organic and biodiversity-certified farming, precision viticulture, reduced synthetic inputs, renewable energy, rainwater recovery, recycling, lower-impact packaging, employee welfare and support for cultural and solidarity initiatives. The family’s stated aim is to preserve the places it values intact for the wider community and future generations.