History
Seventeenth-century roots of the name
Villa Beretta was built at Mizzole in the eastern part of Valpolicella during the seventeenth century by Count Giuseppe Beretta. In addition to serving as podestà of Verona, Giuseppe Beretta was an agronomist and bucolic poet.
Cecilia Beretta, the eighteenth-century muse
The identity of the modern estate also pays tribute to Cecilia Beretta, an educated and refined noblewoman who lived during the eighteenth century. She surrounded herself with artists, intellectuals and musicians from across Europe and cultivated a salon frequented by aristocrats and artists. Her strong yet elegant character became the model for the personality of the wine label.
Her diaries describe a northern European cousin named Freeda, then living in the territory of present-day Sweden, as an important influence on Cecilia’s personal development and artistic outlook.
Late 1940s: acquisition of the vineyards
The Pasqua family acquired the vineyards of Mizzole and San Felice at the end of the 1940s. These holdings later formed an important part of the vineyard base associated with Cecilia Beretta.
1980: creation of Cecilia Beretta
Cecilia Beretta was created in 1980, at the beginning of the 1980s, as a Pasqua family project devoted to high-quality Veronese wines with a defined personality. Its starting point was the family’s vineyards in Valpolicella and Soave, under the technical direction of Carlo Olivari.
The consolidation of the family business made it possible to direct substantial resources toward improving the quality potential of the vineyards and production. The project concentrated on a deliberately limited range, interpreting Veronese traditions through a modern approach while emphasizing individual varieties, vineyard origins and traditional techniques such as appassimento.
Development of the range and technical direction
Picàie was conceived by combining the fragrance and fruit character of local varieties with international grapes, using appassimento as the link between tradition and a more contemporary style. In an earlier phase of the range, Picàie had already represented Cecilia Beretta internationally for twenty years.
The Pasqua family subsequently gave the project renewed impetus by bringing Tuscan oenologist Graziana Grassini alongside the existing winemaking team. With approximately thirty years of professional experience and a place among the first women to pursue winemaking professionally in Italy, Grassini began by refining the personalities of Mizzole Valpolicella Superiore and Picàie. She later supervised a broader stylistic reinterpretation of emblematic Cecilia Beretta labels and participated directly in the relaunch of Mizzole Valpolicella Superiore DOC.
2018: broader vineyard collaborations
Beginning in 2018, new collaborations expanded the network of controlled vineyards supplying grapes to Cecilia Beretta. The geographical reach extended from Valpolicella to the southern Lake Garda area, supporting the introduction of Freeda Rosé Trevenezie.
2019: women and innovation
In 2019, Cecilia Beretta and Wired developed a project devoted to contemporary female innovation. It assembled the stories of 33 women working across science, technology, entrepreneurship, sustainability, sport, art, food, finance, health and social causes. Twelve profiles were interpreted as a limited edition of Mizzole Valpolicella through illustrations by Ludovica Basso, known as Clorophilla.
Contemporary direction
Cecilia Beretta remains owned by Umberto, Riccardo and Alessandro Pasqua. A younger family member, Cecilia, serves as business development manager after working in the international sales team and completing the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines and Spirits.
Annual production is now approximately 300,000 bottles. The contemporary range continues to focus on Valpolicella, Soave and other Veneto origins, the recovery and expression of indigenous grapes—particularly Corvina—and the relationship between innovation and inherited techniques.
Terroir
Cecilia Beretta’s vineyard origins extend across an amphitheatre of hills and valleys in Valpolicella and eastward to the volcanic hills of Soave. The Valpolicella holdings and controlled vineyards include sites in eastern Valpolicella and Valpolicella Classica, between Castello di Montorio, Mizzole and San Pietro in Cariano. Brognoligo lies within the Soave Classico area, while further grape sources extend to Valpantena and the southern part of Lake Garda.
Across the principal Valpolicella and Soave holdings, average elevation is 150–200 m. The broad soil description is limestone and clay, but individual origins differ materially. Mizzole has predominantly clay-limestone soils at approximately 200 m. The Soave hills are volcanic, and Brognoligo is characterized by eruptive-basaltic formation with alluvial residues. The southern Lake Garda vineyards are clay-limestone. The San Pietro in Cariano origin associated with Terre di Cariano Amarone has alluvial soils containing fine and gravelly, calcareous sediments.
The vineyard landscape is presented as a continuum between Valpolicella’s hills and valleys and Soave’s volcanic terrain, with site identity treated as a central component of the wines rather than as a generic regional designation.
Winemaking
The principal vineyards have a planting density of approximately 5,000 vines per hectare and use Guyot and spur-pruned cordon training. Brognoligo is an important exception in the available descriptions: its approximately 45-year-old Garganega vines are trained to pergola.
Manual selection and harvesting are integral to the estate’s traditional appassimento practice. The best bunches are picked by hand at slight overripeness, spaced in wooden crates and transferred to the fruttaio. Brognoligo employs a distinct on-vine method: the fruiting cane is cut once the grapes are ripe, interrupting sap flow so the berries dry naturally for a further two to three weeks before hand harvesting.
Environmental work includes organic certification, investment in sustainability research and the conversion of vineyards to organic management. The broader operational program seeks to minimize energy use, employ structures that regulate temperature naturally and reduce glass and paper packaging waste. Cecilia Beretta maintains ISO, BRC, IFS and Organic quality certifications and has achieved compliance with the Equalitas SOPD Sustainable Organisation Module–OS standard.
Cecilia Beretta’s production is centered on a limited range and on the combination of contemporary interpretation with inherited Veronese practices. Indigenous varieties—particularly Corvina—are a primary focus, while selected international grapes are used where they form part of the established stylistic concept.
Appassimento
The core shared technique is appassimento. Selected bunches are harvested by hand at slight overripeness and arranged in wooden crates, carefully separated from one another. Each container holds no more than approximately 5 kg. The crates are placed in a dedicated drying room, the fruttaio, where fans maintain a stable temperature and regulate humidity to reduce the risk of mould.
The general drying cycle lasts approximately four months. During that period the berries lose roughly 30–40% of their original weight, concentrating sugar and potential alcohol as well as aromatic compounds, extract and glycerol. The transformation supplies the concentration and aromatic richness associated with the red-wine production.
Cellar and resource management
Production facilities include structures designed to regulate temperature naturally, reducing energy requirements. Packaging policy focuses on limiting waste from materials such as glass and paper. Quality and organizational systems are maintained through ISO, BRC, IFS, Organic and Equalitas SOPD compliance.
Philosophy
Cecilia Beretta’s guiding objective is to express the strength and personality of traditional Valpolicella and Soave wines through a deliberately limited range. The approach gives weight to individual grape varieties and places of origin while interpreting tradition in a modern, original manner.
The estate frames winemaking as a collaboration between people and nature. Indigenous varieties, particularly Corvina, are recovered and emphasized in the cellar, while ancient practices such as appassimento are retained as active production tools rather than historical symbols. Innovation is intended to coexist with those inherited methods and with the recognizable character of each vineyard area.
The historical muse supplies a parallel cultural model: education, international exchange, strength and elegance. This feminine perspective is carried into contemporary management through Cecilia’s business-development role, Graziana Grassini’s stylistic supervision and projects devoted to women’s contribution to innovation.
Environmental responsibility is integrated into the business strategy through reduced energy consumption, naturally temperature-regulating structures, lower packaging waste, organic certification and compliance with the Equalitas sustainable-organization standard.