In 1963 Angelo Lambertini bought a 100 hectare property -located in San Chierlo di Monte San Pietro- and he soon decided to produce wine in this place. The area was perfect for this aim as, since the XVIth century, San Chierlo lands where cultivated by the Berghetti family, expert wine growers. At the beginning of the 60's the Colli Bolognesi (Bologna Hills) area was slowly developing and getting important; Angelo Lambertini was without doubt one of the most significant promoters of this process together with other local producers. The appeal of the agricultural activities - most of all the winegrowing one - was very strong.
At the beginning of the 20th century his father Vincenzo had moved from Zola Predosa to Casalecchio di Reno -and before that he had moved from Monte San Pietro, where he was born- and had started a trading activity mainly based on wine. The wine he purchased was produced in cellars close to his house and the grapes used for this wine were originating just from Monte San Pietro; this area had always been perfect for this purpose and was a reference point (as it is still today) for wine market pricing at Bologna produce Exchange. Therefore, when Angelo was a child (he was born on 16th May 1910) the air he was breathing smelt of wine. He was the second of 7 children of Vincenzo Lambertini and Elvira Battistini, and he soon had to share the family responsibilities with his parents, as his elder brother Alberto died when he was only 17 years old.
After the 2nd World war, he primarily focused himself on rebuilding his family's houses -which had been destroyed; then he kept on working as a builder, realizing most of his work in Casalecchio, a place he was always devoted to.
In 1963, after having successfully succeeded in the building activity, Angelo Lambertini -who was active and resourceful- was ready for a new challenge. Everything was realized in a few years: he planted vineyards and built a cellar. What is more, the old local "Osteria" (Inn) was restored and transformed in the winery restaurant.
Angelo Lambertini could also count upon the valid support of a man of great managing capacities, Mario Carboni. Mr. Carboni not only became the cellar director, but also the reference point of whatever has been realized in the winery until now. Right in this period Angelo Lambertini decided to call his winery "Tenuta Bonzara" (Bonzara estate) by taking inspiration from the nearby mountain - releasing it from any story or person involved in this area.
The first bottlings and the first labellings took place in 1970.
After that the Company developed and kept on growing just like the enthusiasm and the engagement of the people involved, but it dramatically and suddenly stopped in 1986, when his founder-who was 76- passed away.
However, the founder's enthusiasm and passion were soon inherited by his son Francesco, who had been working side by side with his father -during the last years of his life- in administrating the winery and other family businesses.
It was Francesco's turn to start working, just as his father Angelo had done, during his whole professional period, with successful results. By that time Francesco was already working as a teacher at the Economy Department of Bologna University; however, he was so strongly and affectively bound to the family winery, that he decided to follow in his father's tracks.
It therefore started the second stage of this route, which had a turning point in 1993 when Francesco decided to change the production philosophy of his winery. The main reasons for this modification were due to the rapid changes of the consumers' needs: as a matter of fact, there had been a sudden considerable reduction of wine consumption, strictly related to a higher quality product request.
In that year the oenological and winegrowing support was given to the hands of Vittorio Fiore and Stefano Chioccioli (who is still working in the firm) - two of the most renown wine technicians -in Italy and abroad- who were deeply involved in the qualification process of the Italian wine in the past few years.
As a first step, the crop yield was considerably reduced by applying short-pruning methods and by thinning the grapes out during summer time. Down in the cellar, it was decided to use oenological techniques that would much evaluate the varietal characteristics of the vines by more intensely extracting perfumes and flavours.
Furthermore, in those years it was introduced the use of small barrels (barriques and tonneaux) in the refinement step of quality wines (most of all for red wines).
Tenuta Bonzara started in the early 90's -as a natural consequence of the firm spontaneous hosting attitude- the Farm Holidays activity, by adding to the existing restaurant service the availability of lodges hosting up to 16 people.
In those years it was realized the permanent show of the "Tradizioni agricole di collina" (hill agricultural traditions), a small and carefully kept museum, where many different tools - coming from an almost disappeared culture, though worthwhile of being kept alive - have been placed there.