The History of Winemaking
Land encompassed by the D.O.C. Bagnoli zone has a tradition of
wine production over a thousand years old. Cultivation of grapes has
in fact been noted in this area, starting from Roman times.
Winemaking commenced with the arrival of the Venetian Monastery of
San Michele in 954. The Benedictine monks, with their exceptional
skill produced a notable increase in agricultural production.
There exist numerous documents which testify to the continuance of
wine growing in Bagnoli and surrounding communities. It is a
tradition which was augmented by noble Venetian families, who built
prestigious and sumptuous residences in the country. In 1656 the
Counts Widmann bought from the Papal State the vast lands of Dominio
di Bagnoli. In the deeds of sale for the property, important
vineyards, casks and barrels are described, which testify to the
existence of large cellars organised by and belonging to, the
monastery. At the end of the nineteenth century Bagnoli wines were
amongst the most famous produced in the Venetian hinterland.
Carlo Goldoni wrote of Bagnoli in 1756:
“Not only come the workers,
but ladies and lords a plenty,
clerics, citizens, and gentry
graced with every quality,
who within the confine,
drink the good wine,
leaving for town from the city.”
In 1788 Ludovico Pastò wrote about Friularo: “The Benintendi
have no more of the precious Friularo wine.” (The Benintendi
were the last and most important distributors of Venetian wines).
The advent of Napoleon’s domination of the Veneto, the spread of
Phylloxera, and the progressive abandonment of the countryside,
determined that between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
indigenous grapevines were replaced by international varieties.
To prevent the destruction and the loss of the Friularo grape the
winegrowers in the zone, guided by the enthusiasm of Lorenzo
Borletti, the owner of Dominio di Bagnoli, founded the Society for
the Guardianship of the D.O.C. Bagnoli wines in 1995. Thus started
an important intervention to recover and oversee the replanting of
Friularo over vast areas, and for the development of many wine
research projects shared amongst the Conselve vine growers, wineries
and producers. Some practices, handed down for generations by the
farm workers, have recovered the techniques of the late harvest and
of slowly drying grapes for dessert wines. Historical research
revealed the work of fortifying wine which came to be known as
Travellers’ wine.
New technology allows experimentation in fermenting white wines and
Spumante. During the course of the 90’s the wine cellars of Bagnoli
and Conselve became known for the great success of their wines in
Italy and abroad. With the 1995 harvest the D.O.C. Bagnoli was
officially recognised, which drew a line from its historic origins
to a wine production which is today widely known and of high
quality. The long journey which included epochs, people, passion and
a profound attachment to the Bagnoli land arrived on the 8th
November 2011 with the recognition of the Denomination of
Origin Controlled and Guaranteed: Bagnoli Friularo D.O.C.G.