Giovanni Menti was founded at the end of the 19th century in Gambellara by Stefano’s great-grandfather who made wine for his own personal consumption in this small town nestled between Vicenza and Verona in the Veneto. Generation upon generation, Menti concentrated its cultivation in the Garganega varietal which is renowned for its versatility. Stefano joined the company following his father in 2001. He introduced organic farming in 2004 and by 2011 the company was certified biodynamic, all based on Stefano’s steadfast desire to take better care of the land and improve quality. Though the majority of the winery’s 7.5 hectares remain planted to Gargagena, Stefano has also added Durella in his tenure, another native varietal of the Lessini mountains.

The entire area of Gambellara is 750 hectares divided into 700 hectares of volcanic soil and 50 of limestone. The reigning queen here is the Garganega grape which thrives in the black stone soils and gentle hillsides which lie at roughly 70 m above sea level. The volcanic soils are rich in basalt and tuft and also retain a lot of moisture during the summer so despite hot temperatures in the vineyard, the vines are able to dig deep and extract the moisture they need.

All operations are carried out manually in the vineyards, from pruning to harvesting. The vineyards are planted in the pergola method and are surrounded by woods which add biodiversity to each parcel. Minimal intervention is adhered to in the vineyard. The natural fertility of the terrain encourages the biodynamic methods that Stefano uses in the vineyards, like burying cow manure and green manuring. Though he is deeply passionate about biodynamics, he chooses to be certified only in organic viticulture.

Grapes are harvested in 10kg boxes and taken to be de-stemmed. Stefano prefers to use as little sulfur as possible in the winemaking process, only for example when deduction occurs or there are dead yeasts. The wines all go through malolactic fermentation naturally and are left unfiltered.