History
Foundation
Cà la Bionda was founded in 1902 by Pietro Castellani in Marano di Valpolicella, within the historic Valpolicella Classico zone. The founder shared his name with the estate's current owner.
Preservation of the hillsides
Beginning in 1990, the family restored the estate's dry-stone retaining walls, locally known as marogne. Terracing was preserved because it provides favorable exposure and maintains the form of the hillsides, in preference to less costly mechanical earthmoving and excavation.
Organic transition and independent winegrowing
Organic methods were introduced in 2000. The formal certification process began in 2012, and the 2016 vintage was the first released with organic certification.
In 2008, Cà la Bionda joined other producers in establishing the Federazione Italiana Vignaioli Indipendenti (FIVI). The FIVI model encompasses direct responsibility for the complete production chain: cultivating the vineyards, vinifying the estate's grapes, bottling the wines and managing their sale.
Fourth generation
The estate is now managed by the family's fourth generation, represented by brothers Alessandro Castellani and Nicola Castellani. Alessandro is the winemaker and enologist, while Nicola is the viticulturist and agronomist. Their work continues the family's focus on native varieties, estate-grown grapes, traditional vinification and the preservation of the Marano valley's agricultural landscape.
Terroir
Cà la Bionda lies in the commune of Marano di Valpolicella, in the historic Valpolicella Classico zone. Its hillside vineyards occupy the Marano valley at elevations of 150–300 metres, principally facing east and southeast.
The soils are predominantly clay-limestone and rich in calcium, with a substantial stony and rocky component. The combination is associated with the freshness, finesse and capacity for extended ageing sought across the estate's wines.
Terraces supported by traditional dry-stone marogne shape the cultivated slopes. Their restoration preserves the morphology of the hills and provides favorable exposure without resorting to extensive mechanical excavation.
Ravazzol is a named hill within the estate and is distinguished for its particular soil and climatic conditions. A 2019 description of the Ravazzol vineyards placed them at 200–300 metres, with an average vine age exceeding 70 years and yields limited to 5–6 tonnes per hectare.
Winemaking
Cà la Bionda has worked organically since 2000, began the certification process in 2012 and obtained official certification for the 2016 vintage.
Synthetic pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and chemically derived fertilizers are excluded. The estate had already discontinued herbicides and highly polluting pesticide and antifungal treatments to protect soil microflora, groundwater and human health.
Pest pressure from grape moths and other lepidopteran insects is managed through mating disruption. Pheromone diffusers attached within the vineyard interfere with the males' ability to locate females, reducing mating, larval populations and consequent damage to fruit and leaves without conventional insecticides.
Cover crops are grown in rotation between the vine rows. They are mown and incorporated into the soil as green manure, returning nitrogen, carbon and micronutrients needed for vine growth and fruit ripening.
The biodiversity program includes Brogna sheep, a native breed from Lessinia. The animals graze weeds in the vineyards and provide natural fertilization.
Grapes from boundary rows adjoining non-organic properties are not retained for Cà la Bionda's wines; they are sold to third parties because of the risk of spray drift. This practice extends the organic protocol beyond minimum field boundaries.
All dry-stone marogne have been restored progressively since 1990. The family retains the terraces for their exposure and landscape value rather than reshaping the hills with heavy machinery. Harvest generally begins in the final ten days of August and continues through September, with additional bunch and parcel selection for limited releases.
Cà la Bionda cultivates its own vineyards, vinifies its own grapes and bottles and markets the resulting wines as an independent winegrower. Production is confined to native varieties grown on the estate.
Traditional vinification and maturation remain central to the cellar approach. Fermentations use indigenous yeasts rather than selected commercial strains. Sulphur dioxide is restricted to approximately one quarter of the level permitted for conventional wine.
The cellar employs stainless-steel vessels and oak containers in different formats, while the production of dried-grape wines includes selection of suitably loose, well-exposed bunches and dehydration in small wooden crates. The estate's gallery also documents dedicated winery, harvest and bottling operations.
Philosophy
Cà la Bionda's guiding objective is to produce faithful expressions of its land and the Marano valley through native grapes and traditional methods.
The family's environmental approach is explicitly intergenerational: the vineyards must remain capable of supporting future generations. Soil life, groundwater, the health of nearby families and the wider community are therefore treated as part of the same agricultural responsibility.
Organic farming is understood as accepting a degree of natural adversity and responding agronomically instead of chemically. This closer relationship with the vines is intended to replace exploitation with cultivation and to translate the quality of the land into the finished wine.
Landscape preservation is part of the same philosophy. Restoring dry-stone walls and retaining terraces maintains favorable exposures and the historic form of the Marano hills. The family also treats direct control of growing, vinification, bottling and sales as integral to independent winegrowing.