“The 2020 harvest was excellent,” explains Marco Calaon, President of the Consorzio Vini dei Colli Euganei. “From an agronomic point of view, the six months of drought in spring meant that the budding was not significant and therefore the grape quantities were not excessive. The subsequent rains and moderate temperatures between June and July allowed for regular ripening of the grape clusters. The quality of the vintage looks promising, thanks to an optimal organoleptic development of the grapes.”Winemaking also bore fruit in 2020 and several wineries were awarded important recognitions. Starting with the Tre Bicchieri from Gambero Rosso 2021, awarded to Colli Euganei Cabernet Borgo delle Casette Ris. ’16 from Azienda Il Filò delle Vigne and Colli Euganei Merlot Ris. ’15 from Azienda Vignalta.
Good results also at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2020, held in Brno, Czech Republic, one of the most prestigious wine competitions in the world: the Colli Euganei Ottomano Rosso Riserva 2016 from Montegrande Cristofanon earned the Grand Gold Medal and the “Rising Winery Italy” award, which goes to wines that have reached the highest score across seven different categories.
Gold Medal also went to the Colli Euganei Riserva 2016 from Tenuta San Zibio and Silver Medals to Fior d’Arancio Secco 2019 and Fior d’Arancio Spumante 2019 from Cantina Colli Euganei.
Satisfactions also at the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA), another of the most authoritative wine competitions. Fior d’Arancio 2019 from Vigna Ròda, Alpianae Passito Fior d’Arancio 2016 from Vignalta and Animaversa Manzoni 2017 from Monteversa received silver medals. D+ Riserva 2016 from Maeli, Animaversa Rosso 2016 from Monteversa, Scarlatto 2016 from Vigna Ròda, Etymo 2016 from Zonin and Infinito 2015 from Maeli earned bronze medals.
In the selection of VeronaFiere Five star wines 2021, as many as 13 labels from Colli Euganei scored over 90 points and are therefore published in the Guida 5StarWines – The Book and included with tasting notes and scores in the Vinitaly Directory Catalog and Vinitaly App.
In the wine competition “Premio Qualità Italia,” which aims to enhance Italian excellences through a blind tasting panel of experts from different regions, Colli Euganei Fior d’Arancio DOCG from Terre Gaie won in the category Sweet White Sparkling Wines VSQ, DOC VSQ, IGT VSQ; Parco del Venda Colli Euganei Fior d’Arancio DOCG Passito 2018 from Vitivinicola Parco del Venda won in the category DOC Sweet Wines
In October, moreover, a different award arrived for Cantina Colli Euganei, the Travel Food Award 2020 as best food and wine destination, given by GIST, Gruppo Italiano Stampa Turistica for a territorial marketing project. The winery actually created a solidarity bottle with the Vò label of Serprino Spumante Doc Colli Euganei and Rosso Doc Colli Euganei. For every bottle sold, one euro is allocated to the University of Padua and the team of Professor Andrea Crisanti to support scientific research in the fight against Covid-19, while 10 cents go to the Municipality of Vo’ for tourism promotion. It is therefore an acknowledgment of the ability to transform the collective tragedy of Vò and the wineries of the Colli Euganei, severely affected by the health emergency, into a great opportunity.
The importance of the wine from the Colli Euganei is therefore clearly growing. «The wine-growing area is, in terms of soil and climate as well as ampelography, one of the most interesting in Italy», says Francesco Saverio Russo, wine blogger of wineblogroll.com. «From the acidic volcanic soils to the marl soils, passing through the clayey soils rich in red shale, these areas boast, depending on exposure, an innate vocation for the cultivation of native and non-native varietals from which, today, increasingly conscious and identity-rich wines are produced. This great variety translates into a varied production, which is of great interest to those who, like me, write about wine. Visiting vineyards and wineries and comparing notes with winegrowers and producers, I have understood how Moscato (yellow and white) on one hand and the “Bordeaux varieties” on the other are the two focal points through which the territory manages to express itself most clearly. My hope is that the Colli Euganei will soon receive the attention they deserve. The uniqueness and quality are evident: with greater confidence in their own means, I am sure that next year will be the year of the Colli Euganei».
