Let us tell you a beautiful story that took place in the hills of a tiny village called Fumane. The story is of grace received: it was the year 1860 and the local farmers decided to build the sanctuary of Le Salette as a votive offering to the Madonna when she freed their vineyards from the scourge of the vine-pest. The sanctuary is a church which overlooks the village that it protects. It appears to be hanging on the rocks, and is surrounded by hills and vineyards. One of the vineyards extends to just below the sacred building and has always been the property of a "historical" winemaking family of Valpolicella: the Scamperle family, who are the proprietors of a winemaking enterprise with the same name as the sanctuary, Le Salette.
I heirs too is a beautiful story, which tells about decades of faithful farming and love for the land, and, above all, a passion for making wine. Indeed, for generations the Scamperle family has dedicated itself to growing grapes, and, over the years, to gradually increasing the number of grapevines. Today the family owns 25 cultivated hectares, situated here and there among the most renowned places of the Valpolicella Classica and Doc area: Fumane, Negrar, Sant'Ambrogio, and Cellore d'Illasi. The type of grapes produced are the most classical types of the zone: Corvina, a small quantity of Oseleta, Garganega, Molinara, and some Cabernet.
The vineyard has grown slowly and carefully, always respecting the local technique which is sensitive to nature, and has followed nature's rhythm to bring out the originality and characteristics of the grap.
The Scamperle family has followed their own production philosophy and consequently they assign a sort of "birth certificate" to every type of grapevine.
In the beginning of the 1980s, the management of the company was passed from father, Fulvio, to son, Franco, and to his wife, Monica. That opened up a new age for the company, which was especially testified by a decision that was both unusual (for the period), and representative of their way of thinking: they decided to name each bottle according to the specific locality where the grapes were grown.
And that is how names were born like «Ca' Carnocchio» for their Valpolicella Superiore, or «La Marega» for their Amarone, their Recioto is called «Le Traversagne», «I Progni» for another type of Valpolicella Superiore, etc...
This was done because each field of grapevines has its own personality and it is only right that the zones be recognized.
It's like one's children:
they're all different from each other. Grapes and wines are the same way. So, for example, they have a wine called «Cesare», that got its name from Franco and Monica's second child, born in the same year as the wine, 1988. And what's it like?
It's a white passito (sweet desert wine), made of local grapes such as Garganega, mixed with a small amount of Moscato and Malvasia. It has got a reddish-gold color,and boasts the fragrance of honey, dried fruit, and white flowers. Its flavor is delicious-sweet, fully round, clean, and lingers long on your palate.
In the past twenty years the enterprise, Le Salette, has never stopped developing their product, basing the essence of their life and activity, their unflagging quest, on patient research. And their goal has always been quality, a goal shared by the entire family.
Franco Scamperle deals with the vinification, his father, Fulvio, helps with the fields, Monica does the marketing, managing, and sometimes applies her know-how downstairs in the cellar. In a family business you never stop working: however, there is always time for a friend who drops in for a visit.