di Negrar

Foundation in troubled times, 1933

The cooperative was created during a severe political and economic crisis. Grape prices in Italy and Valpolicella had fallen to historic lows, leaving local growers in serious difficulty. Seven Veronese businessmen joined forces to improve and promote the wine production of Valpolicella Classica and protect its land from speculative investment.

On 23 August 1933, Gaetano Dall’Ora, Carlo Vecchi, Giovanni Battista Rizzardi, Marco Marchi, Pier Alvise di Serego Alighieri, Silvio Graziani and Attilio Simonini signed the deed establishing Cantina Sociale Valpolicella in Verona. Its first home was Villa Novare. Gaetano Dall’Ora became the first president, while Giovanni Battista Rizzardi would also serve as president in the cooperative’s early decades.

The founders adopted an unusually direct commercial outlook for a cooperative of the period: bottled wine, a complete branded range and ambitions extending beyond the local market.

Early awards and the emergence of Amarone, 1935–1939

The cooperative received a special mention at the Universal Exhibition in Brussels in 1935 and a comparable distinction at the Turin Wine Fair in 1936. These early awards brought recognition outside Valpolicella and Italy only a few years after incorporation.

Amarone emerged from a Recioto that continued fermenting beyond the intended point and became dry. The episode is preserved in a story involving cellarman Adelino Lucchese and president Gaetano Dall’Ora at Villa Novare. During a tasting of the escaped-fermentation Recioto, the expression “This is not an Amaro, it’s an Amarone” was reportedly coined.

Archival research dates the first bottle labelled “Amarone Extra” to 1936. Cantina Sociale Valpolicella bottled and labelled it. Amarone Extra belonged to a four-wine range sold under the Cantina Sociale Negrar name, alongside Bianco Secco Extra Superiore, Recioto and Recioto Amaro. The range formed part of an early project aimed at international distribution.

The sole surviving bottle of Amarone Extra dates from 1939 and is preserved in the cooperative’s vault as a historical artefact associated with the commercial origins of Amarone.

Post-war relocation and re-foundation, 1948–1957

After the Second World War, a renewed cooperative spirit and the arrival of additional members prompted a move from Villa Novare to San Vito di Negrar in 1948.

Ettore Righetti joined in 1953 as a young accountant. Working under president Giovanni Battista Rizzardi and director Gaetano Dall’Ora, whom he regarded as a mentor, he became progressively more involved in management and later served as director, managing director and president.

By 1957, the cooperative had gained the confidence of more than 80 members. It was re-founded as Cantina Sociale di Negrar di Valpolicella and moved on 28 February to Via Ca’ Salgari 2 in Negrar, which remains its headquarters.

Recognition of the denominations and design experimentation, 1968–1969

On 21 August 1968, a presidential decree established Valpolicella DOC and Recioto della Valpolicella DOC. Amarone was still treated as a dry form of Recioto rather than an autonomous denomination.

In 1969, enthusiasm for the space race and the Apollo moon landing inspired a commemorative bottle whose form recalled a lunar module. Customer response was strong enough for the design to become part of the regular range.

Crisis, management continuity and Domìni Veneti, 1986–1989

During the Italian methanol-wine crisis of 1986, Ettore Righetti responded by increasing his travel abroad, meeting importers personally and working to preserve overseas confidence in the cooperative’s wines.

Righetti recruited Daniele Accordini in 1988. The following year, a programme of research and zoning in Valpolicella Classica culminated in the creation of Domìni Veneti. The project selected a substantial share of production for a premium range and represented the first premium-positioning programme attributed to an Italian cooperative winery. Its name pays tribute to the territories of the former Republic of Venice during the Renaissance.

Amarone DOC, organic farming and a new identity, 1990–2010

In 1990 Amarone became a DOC in its own right and ceased to be classified as Recioto. This formalized a wine identity with which the cooperative had been associated since the 1930s.

In 2004 the organization adopted the name Cantina Valpolicella Negrar, placing its home territory at the centre of its identity. The same year marked the beginning of its organic vineyard-management programme. Certified organic members received a premium for grapes delivered, while the cooperative began guiding growers toward farming based on ecological balance. This programme established the cooperative as an early and subsequently the largest producer of organic wine in Valpolicella Classica.

Amarone achieved DOCG status in 2010.

Education, research and landscape stewardship, 2012–2021

La Scuola nel Vigneto began in 2012 as an interdisciplinary educational and social project. Students followed the cycle of wine through classroom work, vineyard harvesting, winery visits, the drying room, the small Appassimento museum, the reserve vault, chemistry and oenology workshops and an annual label-design competition. Proceeds associated with winning labels supported social projects.

From 2014, the cooperative promoted the candidacy of Appassimento as UNESCO intangible cultural heritage together with the Comune di Negrar and the denomination consortium.

The Wine Net was created in 2017 as a network of Italian cooperative wineries, with Cantina Valpolicella Negrar among its promoters and Daniele Accordini serving as president.

By April 2019, approximately 20 organic member-farms managed 77 ha. After the technical team was strengthened, the total rose by December 2020 to 36 growers and 139 ha certified or in conversion. Vineyard technicians supplied plot-specific advice based on climatic indices, helped with electronic field records and assisted growers during certification inspections.

In July 2021, after roughly four years of work and ten months of formal candidature, the terraced hills of historic Valpolicella were entered in Italy’s National Register of Historic Rural Landscapes. Cantina Valpolicella Negrar led the candidature with the five Valpolicella Classica municipalities, the University of Verona’s Department of Business Economics and GAL Baldo Lessinia. The registered territory represented 66.75% of Valpolicella Classica. The next declared ambition was candidature under the FAO’s GIAHS programme.

Ninetieth anniversary and new governance, 2023 onward

The cooperative celebrated its ninetieth anniversary in 2023 with 240 winegrowing members and more than 700 ha in Valpolicella Classica. Across Valpolicella, Bardolino Classico, Custoza and IGT areas, the 2022/23 total was reported as 878 ha.

On 16 November 2023, Giampaolo Brunelli was elected the fourteenth president for a three-year mandate, succeeding Renzo Bighignoli after three terms. Alessia Ceschi became the first woman to serve as vice-president. The new board also included Andrea Benedetti, Silvano Benedetti, Renzo Berzacola, Renzo Bighignoli, Stefano Brunelli, Gabriele Composta, Flavio Degani, Gaetano Nicoli and Paolo Quintarelli.

The programme announced by the new leadership included around thirty storage vessels with approximately 53,000 hl of total capacity for wines requiring long maturation; a 2,700 m² winery extension for warehousing and a bottling line rated at 12,000 bottles per hour; professional training and study travel for members; expansion of the membership base; and preparation of a sustainability report. The extension was planned within the existing developed footprint to avoid consuming additional agricultural land.

A related modernization project recovers underground warehouse space for steel-lined concrete tanks. The planned total volume is 52,000 hl, of which 26,000 hl formed the subsidized portion. The recently acquired San Pietro in Cariano facility is intended for use as a drying room and requires an upgraded electrical substation.

By the 2024 harvest, the cooperative described approximately 250 members and more than 800 ha, predominantly on the hills of Valpolicella Classica. Its continuing direction combines cooperative knowledge, technical research, territorial stewardship, Appassimento and adaptation to climate change.

Valpolicella Classica

Most of the cooperative’s vineyards are distributed through the five municipalities of Valpolicella Classica: Marano, Sant’Ambrogio, Fumane, San Pietro in Cariano and Negrar. Individual vineyards occupy different elevations across the valleys and hills of these municipalities.

The Monti Lessini shelter the area, while nearby Lake Garda moderates temperatures. The geological mosaic includes sandstone, clay and eruptive rock. Research and zoning are used to understand the potential of individual areas and to match vineyard and production decisions to local conditions.

Terraced slopes and dry-stone walls are defining components of historic Valpolicella. The registered historic rural landscape also includes olive and cherry cultivation, wooded meadows, hamlets, villages, more than 100 Venetian villas and ancient churches. Traditional pergola-trained vineyards remain integral to this landscape.

High-hill organic sites

Organic fruit comes principally from higher hillside vineyards, including sites in the Negrar and Fumane valleys. These positions are generally drier and better ventilated. Sloping ground drains rainfall and reduces water stagnation. Soils range from clay-silt to moderately calcareous compositions, and vineyard exposure supports airflow through the bunches.

Jago

Vigneti di Jago lies on dry-stone terraces in the hills of the Negrar valley. Its poor, marly soils contain abundant stones and thin intercalated clay layers and drain readily. The vines are trained to pergola veronese. A separate experimental vineyard at Jago conserves and presents native grape varieties.

Lake Garda production areas

Pinot Grigio and Custoza vineyards are situated southeast of Lake Garda. The Pinot Grigio sites are hillside vineyards with light soils, ventilation and temperature variation. Bardolino and Chiaretto originate around Bardolino, while Soave Classico comes from Soave.

The cooperative manages its vineyard network through shared technical direction rather than a single uniform farming regime. Its aim is to integrate vineyards into functioning ecosystems, encourage biodiversity, preserve soil organic matter and maintain soil vitality under changing climatic conditions.

Pergola veronese is the preferred training system. Its canopy forms a green roof that shelters grapes and soil, limits micro-evaporation and reduces sunburn. Harvesting and the selection of fruit for Appassimento are performed by hand.

Organic farming began in 2004. Certified organic members have received a premium for delivered grapes, while vineyard technicians supply plot-level recommendations based on climatic indicators, help maintain electronic field records and assist with certification inspections. The programme grew from approximately 20 farms and 77 ha in April 2019 to 36 growers and 139 ha certified or in conversion in December 2020; the current institutional presentation identifies 130 ha under organic management. Organic vineyards are fully grassed.

The technical staff issues regular conventional and organic phytosanitary bulletins covering weather, phenology, disease pressure, pests, nutrition, canopy operations, regulations and training. The objective is a shared vineyard-management model capable of supplying sound fruit for Appassimento. The cooperative also encourages SQNPI voluntary integrated-production certification, provides application and record-keeping assistance and offers participating growers an additional Appassimento allocation of 5 quintals per hectare for certified Valpolicella vineyards.

Current field guidance adapts treatments to actual pressure and site conditions. It includes copper-based downy-mildew protection, sulphur or bicarbonate strategies for powdery mildew, microbiological or terpene-based pre-harvest measures where Botrytis risk requires them, and beneficial insects—Anagyrus vladimiri and Cryptolaemus montrouzieri—for Planococcus ficus. Symptomatic Flavescence Dorée vines are marked, cut back and removed; monitoring is treated as essential even after compulsory insecticide treatments. Esca-affected vines are marked for replacement after severe apoplexy, while mildly affected trunks may be cleaned, split or headed back.

Canopy work includes timely shoot thinning, removal of double shoots and topping where vigour is excessive. Open, aerated canopies improve spray coverage and disease management, but direct exposure of bunches is limited during hot periods. Corvina and Corvinone may be protected from sunburn with calcium-magnesium oxide, kaolin, rock powder or zeolite applied specifically to the fruit zone.

Young vines and sites with limited water retention receive emergency irrigation during water stress. New vines are supported with water and fertilizers containing mycorrhizae. Nutrition is adjusted to phenology and observed need: soil fertilization during root activity, boron around flowering, chelated iron for chlorosis, and calcium and magnesium before veraison to strengthen skins and reduce rachis desiccation.

The MAPPIAMO programme adds georeferenced field observations, real-time seasonal monitoring, predictive disease and harvest models, GIS and machine-learning tools to vineyard decision-making. Its intended outputs include precision zoning, traceability, more sustainable management and better coordination between technicians and members.

Appassimento and selection

More than 30,000 quintals—over 3 million kg—of native grapes are entrusted to the cooperative for Appassimento each year. This makes it the largest custodian of Valpolicella Classica grapes destined for Amarone. The fruit is harvested and selected by hand. Amarone effectively involves two harvests: selection in the vineyard and a second selection in the drying room after raisining.

Traditional organic Amarone production places Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella on rush mats in the drying room, with fermentation beginning in January. In the very warm 2022 season, crushing was authorized from 3 November, roughly one month earlier than customary. The cooperative described its Appassimento as controlled while still permitting the development of traditional noble Botrytis where conditions allowed.

Recioto uses selected, mature portions of the finest bunches and is produced from raisined grapes. Its fermentation is stopped to preserve residual sugar, followed by extended maturation. Ripasso reuses the still sugar-rich marc from Amarone and Recioto: fresh Valpolicella undergoes a second fermentation on the pomace. One organic programme description specifies 15 days of direct contact.

Maturation and winery infrastructure

Large oak casks are the preferred wood vessels for Amarone and other wines requiring evolution in oak.

A modernization programme recovers underground warehouse volumes for steel-lined concrete tanks. The steel lining is intended to avoid possible transfer from cement while retaining the structural advantages of the tanks. The planned total volume is 52,000 hl, divided between 26,000 hl within the supported project and 26,000 hl financed independently.

A related leadership programme described approximately thirty vessels with about 53,000 hl of capacity for wines requiring long maturation, a 2,700 m² extension for warehouse space and a bottling plant rated at 12,000 bottles per hour. The work was planned inside the existing developed perimeter to avoid additional loss of agricultural land.

A recently acquired building at San Pietro in Cariano is intended for use as a drying facility; its electrical substation is being upgraded to meet the new power requirement.

Research

VIT-VIVE investigates more sustainable vineyard and cellar protocols, including oxidation control, lower-impact processing aids, analytical markers for ageing potential, reduced SO2, microorganisms for low-SO2 vinification, fermentation temperature and aroma retention, precision sensors during production and transport, lower cooling and tartaric-stabilization energy use, and prototypes for recovering aroma and water. These are research objectives and experimental outputs rather than universal specifications for every wine.

Cantina Valpolicella Negrar defines itself through cooperative initiative, reciprocity and collaboration. Experienced growers and younger members work together, combining knowledge accumulated over many harvests with new technical skills and creative energy.

Its stated mission is to preserve and renew the viticultural and winemaking traditions of Valpolicella, using modern techniques and continuing research in pursuit of quality and sustainability. Wine is understood as the result of interaction between grower knowledge, technical innovation and the characteristics of each place.

The cooperative presents quality as the starting point and research as the means of keeping tradition relevant. Its approach to Appassimento and Amarone joins nature, technique, craft and patience: Amarone is treated as a creative act whose variables demand cooperation among vineyard and cellar professionals.

Environmental responsibility centres on integrating vineyards into ecosystems, encouraging biodiversity, conserving soil organic matter, protecting the terraced landscape and helping members adapt professionally to climate change. Social responsibility extends the meaning of wine to culture, art, history, education and solidarity.

The governing principle expressed for the cooperative’s future is to listen and evolve with its members, pursue progressive and sustainable growth and respect nature’s timing.