Pieropan

Pieropan is a family attested in the Soave area since the mid-17th century. The winemaking activity began only later with Leonildo, the town's conduit doctor, who in 1901 bought and brought to fruition what constituted the first family estate, called "Calvarino." It will be another Leonildo, the only descendant of a large family, who will make the most significant and profound modernizations, starting in 1966 and after the completion of studies in oenology and viticulture at the School of Conegliano. New vineyards were acquired, new technologies appeared in the winery, experimentation was carried out and comparisons were made with other wine-growing areas of the world. In a few years, accompanied by his inseparable wife Teresita, Leonildo became a point of reference for the national and international market. His passing in 2018 left the running of the winery to his sons Andrea and Dario, both graduates in viticulture and oenology, who inaugurated the new modern hypogeal cellar in the middle of the vineyards, abandoning the company's historic headquarters in the centuries-old Palazzo Pullici in the center of the village.

The Pieropan estate extends into the classic Soave territory, just a few kilometers from the town center and on the first spurs of the mountain massif that rises toward the shores of Lake Garda, the Lessini Mountains Regional Park and the Dolomites. The vineyards cover an area of about 45 hectares, managed according to the rules of organic farming and lying along an area where different geological realities meet. The plain of alluvial origin, with fairly deep and light fertile soils, and the plain of volcanic origin find their counterpart in the more hilly areas, where stratified limestone rock is immediately perceptible and deposits of volcanic material rich in minerals characterize the slope up to 500 meters above sea level. The varieties grown are the territorial white grapes, Garganega and Trebbiano di Soave. In 2000 the family acquired an uncultivated piece of land in the municipality of Cellore d'Illasi and, by planting it with traditional Valpolicella red grapes, will bring the total extent of the properties to about 70 hectares.

Pieropan conducts its winemaking in the Soave winery, for whites belonging to the appellation of the same name, and in the Villa Cipolla Pellegrini winery in Tregnango, for Valpolicella reds and Amarone. Operations are carried out in an absolutely traditional way, with grapes harvested when ripe and fermentation in vitrified cement vats. When necessary, aging is conducted in wooden barrels.