Bele Casel

Ilario's farm and Danilo's first steps

The roots of Bele Casel lie with Ilario, the maternal grandfather of Luca and Paola Ferraro. He farmed slightly more than one hectare of Malvasia beside his home and sold the entire production as bulk wine in demijohns. Danilo met Ilario's daughter while he was still studying enology. After completing his studies, Danilo worked at a distillery and spent his free time helping Ilario in the fields and cellar.

Danilo began bottling wine in the family cellar in 1975, a necessary step toward establishing a market beyond bulk sales. He also worked as a consultant and made sparkling wine both for the family and for other producers. The winery is dated to 1977, when Danilo pursued the project that became Bele Casel. Around the period in which Luca and Paola were born, the parents also created an activity called La Contea.

The basement years

The enterprise initially remained secondary to the parents' salaried employment. After completing their regular working days, they descended into a basement only slightly larger than a garage to bottle and prepare wine. A full day's work might produce just 200–300 bottles. Labels were applied entirely by hand, orders were delivered personally on Saturdays, and commercial relationships depended on telephone calls and handshakes. The young Luca and Paola were largely raised by their maternal grandparents while their parents worked to consolidate the business.

The family remembers white-and-green labels, a blue semi-automatic labelling machine, white twelve-bottle cartons, the smell of glue and bottles cleaned individually with a sponge. International sales and e-commerce had no part in this early phase.

From ColFondo to pressurized tanks

The family's sparkling-wine history began with the traditional ColFondo style. During the 1980s, the purchase of the first two autoclaves transformed the original bottle-refermented wine into a frizzante made from the vineyard tended personally by Ilario. The equipment was modest, and concentrated must was initially used to initiate the second fermentation. Danilo was not fully satisfied with that solution.

The family nevertheless chose to raise quality even when doing so meant increasing costs and prices. The simple frizzante became an undesignated spumante brut in a brown bottle with a brown label and 12 g/l residual sugar. It subsequently acquired Prosecco DOC status, with a green bottle, black label and black capsule. As the geographical scope of Prosecco DOC ceased to represent the family's hillside work adequately, attention shifted decisively toward Asolo and the vineyards of its hills.

Export and a new phase of growth

A turning point came when an American importer searching for Prosecco contacted the family. The visit took place on a cold, rainy day, when the production cellar was still a small basement and the family had limited English and no dedicated sales structure. Bele Casel was selected for export to the United States. During the following decade, the family expanded, learned from mistakes and retained quality as the central objective.

The family began documenting its work online in 2009. From 2012, the annual Bele Casel Diaries followed vineyard and cellar work month by month, recording the transition toward organic farming, the development of individual vineyards and the evolution of Monfumo in particular.

Organic conversion and the Monfumo vineyard

Luca initiated the vineyards' conversion to organic management, and certification was obtained in 2014. The transition included efforts to reduce copper use, mechanical and manual weed control, green manures, compost and manure, disease monitoring and close observation of each growing season.

In January 2014 the family prepared to acquire approximately one hectare in Monfumo, drawn by an old, steep vineyard. The planting had never been systematically cleared of non-Glera vines and preserved Bianchetta Trevigiana, Perera and other historic local varieties. Some vines were already more than a century old. The mixed planting changed the family's understanding of what an Asolo wine could express and strengthened its commitment to old local grapes.

The difficult 2014 season brought persistent rain and intensive vineyard work. Harvest ran from 9 to 24 September, with Rabbiosa left longer on the vine in an effort to reduce its high acidity. Luca credited the eventual quality of the fruit to detailed vineyard care, the hillside sites, the work of the team and the performance of the Monfumo vineyard.

Extra Brut and renewed focus on Asolo

In May 2015 Bele Casel presented an Asolo Prosecco Superiore Extra Brut. It represented the latest stage in the evolution of the family's original sparkling wine: from ColFondo, through frizzante and brut, to a low-dosage Asolo DOCG intended to emphasize the structure and savory character of the hillside fruit.

Prà Grande

A telephone call alerted the family to 4,000 m² of land for sale at Prà Grande in Monfumo. It contained five or six old rows of Bianchetta Trevigiana, and the purchase was concluded quickly. The first harvest in September 2016 was small: the vineyard was in poor condition, many vines were dead and productivity was low.

The family removed the failing planting but retained its two healthiest rows. In spring 2017 the remainder was replanted exclusively with Bianchetta Trevigiana, an intentionally uneconomic decision conceived as a means of preserving and re-evaluating a historic local variety. The young vines were hoed and maintained manually. The parcel later became the source of Caranto, named after the Pleistocene alluvial clay and calcareous marl found there.

Vecchie Uve and recent developments

In January 2020 Bele Casel introduced Asolo DOCG Vecchie Uve, developed from the old mixed vineyards of Monfumo. Its creation reflected a desire to place Asolo before the generic idea of Prosecco, preserve old white varieties and demonstrate that this category of sparkling wine could sustain long maturation. The 2017 release underwent 16 months on fine lees, 18 months in autoclave and a further year in bottle.

A redesigned digital presence followed in June 2020, preserving articles written since 2009 and reorganizing the 2012–2019 photographic diaries. In October 2020 the family announced that ColFondo would move from Asolo Prosecco DOCG to Colli Trevigiani IGT; the current wine is presented as ColFondo Agricolo® under that indication.

Prà Grande's Bianchetta was eventually bottled as the still wine Caranto. The 2020 vintage, produced in 1,433 bottles, was released in January 2024 after four days of skin contact and two years in steel.

Climate pressure in 2024

On 19 April 2024, frost threatened the entire crop. Estate weather stations measured a minimum of 1.5°C at Vigna dei Confinanti in Monfumo and 4.8°C in Cornuda. The vines escaped serious damage, unlike the family's experience in April 2018.

Later in the season, concentrated extreme rainfall and landslides affected vineyards, woods and public roads around Monfumo. Younger vineyards with drainage installed before planting performed better than old sites where retrofitting drainage would be difficult. The family identified climate change as a collective territorial problem and committed to continuing to learn, improve drainage and vineyard practice, and communicate the season's consequences openly.

Bele Casel works exclusively with hillside vineyards in the Asolo DOCG, distributed among Cornuda, Maser and Monfumo. The vines lie near Asolo, among rocky hills south of the Dolomites. These hills rise abruptly from the valley floor, creating marked differences among sites. Organic matter is the principal common feature across otherwise variable soils.

Monfumo

Monfumo is the cooler part of the estate and produces more linear base wines suited to very low dosage and bottle-refermented styles. The principal vineyards lie at approximately 250–300 metres above sea level. Their grey, marl-clay soils are acidic and moderately deep, with good water-holding capacity and mineral reserves. Limestone and abundant organic matter are recurring components. The old plantings occupy steep slopes and retain mixed populations of Glera, Bianchetta Trevigiana, Perera, Rabbiosa and Marzemina Bianca.

At Prà Grande, caranto—an alluvial clay and calcareous marl of Pleistocene origin—is particularly prominent. The parcel's general soil is grey marl-clay, rich in limestone and organic matter.

Cornuda

Cornuda lies at approximately 150–200 metres and has a generally warmer mesoclimate. Its fruit produces more structured base wines. The soil is red, acidic, moderately deep, iron-rich and rich in organic matter, with good mineral content and water-holding capacity.

Mesoclimate and weather variability

The distribution of vineyards across different parts of the denomination provides both stylistic diversity and protection from localized weather. During the frost threat of 19 April 2024, Vigna dei Confinanti at Monfumo reached 1.5°C while Cornuda remained at 4.8°C. The estate also distinguishes colder Monfumo, associated with verticality and low dosage, from warmer Cornuda, associated with greater structure.

Extreme and concentrated rainfall has increased landslide pressure across vineyards, woods and roads. Young plantings established with substantial drainage have proved more resilient, whereas older vineyards created before such drainage work have suffered more and are difficult to retrofit.

The 12 hectares are personally managed by the Ferraro family and have been certified organic since 2014. Current crop protection is described in terms of copper, sulfur and microorganisms. Danilo's longstanding refusal to employ products capable of altering or damaging the wine is extended to the vineyard through an emphasis on low-impact work and respect for natural conditions.

Soil care includes farmyard manure, plant-based compost and green manures. Recorded cover crops include vetch, mustard and grasses. Preparation and sowing may be done by hand; the ground is subsequently rolled, and the developing cover is incorporated or managed according to the season. Grass is mown or cut with brush cutters, while young vines and under-row strips are hoed or mechanically cultivated rather than routinely cleared with herbicide.

The seasonal work includes winter pruning, removal and shredding of canes, tying with traditional willow material, replacement of dead vines and posts, shoot positioning, topping, selective leaf and bunch removal, and the planting of replacement vines. Chestnut posts have been used in Monfumo. Sheep have also been brought into vineyards during winter.

Disease management is based on observation and timely low-impact intervention. The work record includes sulfur against oidium, algae-based treatments, copper preparations, monitoring for downy mildew and the flavescence vector Scaphoideus titanus, removal of vines affected by flavescence dorée, excoriosis or esca, and disinfection of pruning blades. Weather stations installed in individual vineyards support decisions in conditions that can vary sharply over short distances. Hail nets have been deployed, and drainage is treated as essential when new hillside vineyards are established.

Biodiversity observed among the vines includes ladybirds, pheasants, blackbirds, deer, salamanders and earthworms. Their presence forms part of the estate's understanding of a living vineyard rather than a production monoculture.

Harvest timing is decided parcel by parcel and variety by variety. Bianchetta, Perera and especially the late, high-acid Rabbiosa do not necessarily follow Glera's schedule. Manual harvesting is explicitly used for the old Monfumo vineyards and Prà Grande. Daily maturity sampling across the estate guides picking decisions. In challenging years the family has chosen intensive vineyard work and selective timing over aggressive chemical rescue treatments.

Bele Casel produces sparkling wine through two principal routes: the Martinotti method and the family's traditional ColFondo process.

Grapes are soft-pressed in a pneumatic press. The must undergoes static settling without enological processing aids, followed by temperature-controlled fermentation; the English technical material specifies approximately 18–20°C. Base wines mature in stainless-steel tanks. Depending on the intended style, this period extends from at least five months to well over a year. Several current processes omit filtration and added sulfur dioxide during this stage.

For Martinotti wines, the completed base wine undergoes secondary fermentation in a pressurized tank. Standard cycles run approximately 30–70 days according to the cuvée. The long Martinotti approach used for old-vine material extends maturation substantially, with 16–18 months on the lees in autoclave following 18–22 months of steel maturation in documented releases.

ColFondo follows the family's multigenerational bottle-refermentation practice. The base wine first completes alcoholic fermentation; it is then bottled for a separate secondary fermentation. Refermentation takes place in spring, and the wine is not disgorged. The retained lees act as a natural preservative and antioxidant and are considered central to the wine's longevity. The bottles may be gently agitated to return the sediment to suspension.

The family's move into pressurized production began with two autoclaves acquired in the 1980s. Early second fermentations used concentrated must, a practice Danilo questioned as the family pursued higher quality. The range subsequently evolved from frizzante to brut, DOC and finally a stronger focus on hillside Asolo DOCG and low-dosage expressions.

Prà Grande's Bianchetta also supports a still-wine route: four days of skin maceration followed by two years in stainless steel were used for the 2020 Caranto. This demonstrates that the cellar works with the historic varieties not only as blending components for sparkling wine but also as autonomous material.

Bele Casel defines itself through the combination of family labour—“hands, minds and hearts”—and a specific commitment to the hills of Asolo. The objective is not simply to market the Prosecco grape name but to give priority to place, hillside farming and the Asolo denomination.

Quality is linked to respect for what nature provides. This principle originated with Danilo's refusal to use products that might alter or damage the wine and developed into certified organic farming, efforts to limit copper, preservation of soil life, use of old mixed vineyards and close adaptation to each season.

The family treats the old local grapes as cultural and agricultural resources rather than unwanted deviations from Glera. Bianchetta Trevigiana, Perera, Rabbiosa and Marzemina Bianca are preserved in the old Monfumo field blend, while Prà Grande was replanted exclusively to Bianchetta despite the decision's poor immediate economics. The intention is to recover varieties at risk of being forgotten and to broaden the understanding of Asolo beyond standardized, inexpensive sparkling wine.

Tradition is combined with measured technology. Pressurized tanks, temperature control and pneumatic pressing are used where they serve the desired result, while ColFondo retains bottle refermentation and its sediment. Innovation is accepted selectively rather than pursued as an end in itself.

Transparency is another stated value. Luca has repeatedly chosen to discuss disease pressure, difficult harvests, frost, landslides and mistakes as well as successful seasons. Climate change is regarded as a fact affecting the whole territory—vineyards, woodland, roads and communities—and as a problem requiring collective learning rather than a simple technical claim of having found a solution.