Hello everyone and welcome to our Estate !!
My name is MASSIMO DI LENARDO and it is a great pleasure for me to introduce you to our estate, cellar, wines and organization.
So , take your time , relax and … come fly with me , come fly with me … to my little corner of Italy !
The Cellar
The “DI LENARDO VINEYARDS” Estate produces quality wines from its five large family owned vineyards situated in Ontagnano (UD), in the heart of the FRIULI region , from a rented vineyard close to Aquileia (UD) and from some “controlled” vineyards in Manzano (UD).
The vineyards are located in the famous area FRIULI DOC . However, I love to joke and say we are located on the moon, as our wines are rather exceptional, thanks to their unique tastes and aromas, which are by no means typical of this area, but are essentially our hallmark !
VIGNE DAI VIERIS, VIGNE DA SAN MARTIN, VIGNE DA LIS MARIS, VIGNA NUOVA and TIARE D’ALBE are the names of our five large vineyards which stretch across around 55 hectares of the 150 hectares of the entire estate.
As I formerly mentioned, we also rent others 5 hectares of vineyards near Palmanova, close to our main estate. Consequently we currently work directly upon a total of approximately 60 hectares.
Our family has a long-standing tradition in cultivating vines in Ontagnano, as proved by historical documentation dating back to the 1800’s.
However, it was only through the production of the 1987 vintage bottles that the quality of our company took an enormous leap forward, thanks to the decision to press only grapes produced in our family vineyards, flanked by the planting of new specially selected varieties, an increase in the density of the vines, which grew to 6000 per hectare, decisive pruning, and other salient actions fundamental to the management of our vineyard that produce quality wines.
Today, our care our and refined methods of vinification, based on principles of physics and electronic temperature control during the fermentation phase are implemented.
Consequently, the quality of the final product and its unique taste is even further enhanced.
We only use cutting-edge technology during the productions of our white wines, which enables us to guarantee, year by year, the top quality of our limited number of bottles and maintain our reputation as the most advanced and sophisticated cellar in our area.
Following the enormous success of the 1998 vintage production, I personally took over the direction of the entire winemaking processes with the sustainment of a pool of expert wine-consultants.
My philosophy is to place emphasis on the pure fruitiness and acidity of the grape by eliminating the masking effect caused by final maturation in oak barrels.
Currently, our Company is acknowledged as the best quality-price brand in Friuli and one of the most technologically-advanced.
Since 2009, we only use solar energy, obtained through the panels that cover the whole roof of our warehouse, to run our cellar: this is our small contribution to saving the planet !
If you are thinking of visiting Friuli, we would be delighted to welcome you to our premises and invite you to taste our latest wine productions with us and show you around the estate.
What more can I say ?
Take a car , a plane or train and come and visit us soon as you want !
Looking forward to meeting you in the near future.
Ciao for now
Massimo (aka Max)