Gianfranco Elampini, winemaker in Valpolicella, founded Vigna ‘800 in 2001 with a specific purpose: making good wine with the only grapes from his land, Valpolicella, and growing grapes like they used to do, as his father Gino taught him.
“I grew up in the country learning to work in the vineyard from my dad Gino” Gianfranco says.
Vigna ‘800, a 5 hectares-vineyards winery, is named after an ancient engraved stone that emerged from the ground. Gianfranco’s purpose is a tribute to the history of yesterday and today. Moreover the winery has an organic certification since the 2016 harvest.
“We welcome every year a lot of tourists in our restaurant and winery. The 80% percent of our visitors are foreign: mainly from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, USA, Germany and England” Gianfranco explains.
“Our locanda, named Locanda ‘800 – a mix of an inn and a little restaurant – is the perfect place to combine our wines with quality food, made by our chef using selected raw materials and traditional receipts” the wine-maker continues.
“We offer a good selection of wines in our wine list, but our guests can also choose a menu created pairing our wines Vigna ‘800 with the dishes”.
Moreover the guests can experience a special tasting in the barrique room and cellar of the locanda.
Amarone “Virgo Moron” is the most chosen wine, it’s the “star” of the experience especially for the foreign visitors. “English wine lovers have demonstrated to appreciate Amarone and Ripasso mainly.
Since the first meeting, they have become faithful and when they come back home, they try to keep in touch and order more wines again and again”.
A special experience is the “Amaroni ladder”: this is for true connoisseurs and wine lovers. Gianfranco accompanies the guests on a quality journey to taste four vintages of Amarone. This tasting makes you appreciate the difference, the unique characteristics of each wine, to learn more about the wine making techniques.
Tradition is the key word: the grapes from selected vineyards of Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella are hand picked and then dried for about 100 days and softly pressed. The product of this vinification refines for 18 months in oak barriques and 12 months in French oak barrels to gain structure and roundness. After that, at least one year in the bottle.
A story directly narrated from the heart of Valpolicella, surrounded by genuine food and the cellar’s wines.
