After university in 1975 Roberto Anselmi went to work at his father's Veneto winery, producing Soave. The family bought in grapes to vinify as Roberto's grandfather had unfortunately been forced to sell the family vineyards in the 1940's and 50's following WW2. Roberto's dream was to buy back these vineyards, and he started to acquire hillside sites, finally realising his goal, and today his son Tommaso and daughter Lisa have joined the family business, ensuring the Anselmi legacy continues. Anselmi are located in Monteforte d'Alpone in the province of Verona. Roberto eschewed the usual higher yielding pergola system of vine training in favour of high density, Guyot trained vines which, although less productive, produce grapes of higher quality (instead of around 15 bunches of grapes per vine, Anselmi's vines produce three!). In 2000 this quality-led approach led to Roberto, frustrated by the poor quality of Soave wines and disliking bureaucratic legislation, to choose to leave the Soave DOC and label his wines as IGT Veneto, named after the vineyards from where the grapes are grown. Anselmi farm organically and today 70 hectares are under vine on the highest hills of Monteforte on calcareous and volcanic soils, predominately planted with Garganega, with smaller amounts of other varieties including Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. There is also Cabernet Sauvignon for the only red wine now produced by Anselmi, the elegant and harmonious Realda. In the cellar Anselmi apply the same quality-orientated approach as they do in the vineyards: fruit is cold-macerated and fermented at low temperatures, resulting in a small, but truly impressive range of wines with a complex array of flavours. Roberto Anselmi is regarded as one of Italy's leading white wine producers, who has helped to redefine the wines of the Veneto, earning him the title the “conscience of Soave”.
www.robertoanselmi.com