Castello di Grumello, the emerging producer

He is the emerging producer in the special awards of The Essential Guide 2026. It is located in Valcalepio, in the Bergamo area, inside a castle that has been, over the centuries, a bastion of quality viticulture, now reborn thanks to a new far-sighted management.

A medieval castle in the green hills of Valcalepio, an agricultural area between the eastern part of the province of Bergamo and Lake Iseo. It is Grumello Castle, a military fortress that its first owner, the condottiero Bartolomeo Colleoni, in time of clashes between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan, wanted to equip with a watchtower (still standing today), from which he could dominate the entire Po Valley.

Since the 1800s, its cellars have welcomed a flourishing wine production, particularly thanks to one of the last families of owners, the Gonzaga family, who, with the Prince del Carretto, introduced into the area some rootstocks of a “new” grape variety from France.

The Bergamasque farmers called it Burdunì, but it was Cabernet sauvignon: and in Valcalepio it immediately gave excellent results.

Grumello Agricultural School

Unfortunately, in those same years, phylloxera also spread, and soon those precious plants ended up being destroyed. Not all ills come to harm, however. Even before the advent of the aphid, in fact, the diseases and adversities that had befallen Lombardy’s agriculture had prompted the province’s economic leaders to create a permanent agricultural school in the late 19th century.

Thus was born the Grumello Agricultural School, a research and experimental institute located in the very village at the foot of the castle, whose research activities were pioneering. Here, in fact, the first phylloxera-resistant rootstocks were tested. Then, in 1881, the director of the School, Giacomo Grazzi Soncini, discovered that the copper ion was capable of blocking the development of downy mildew spores: the foundations had been laid for the creation of Bordeaux mixture as an anti-cryptogamic, later developed in France by Millardet in 1885.

Rebirth

The revival of viticulture at the Castello, however, would have to wait until the 1960s, when, with the end of sharecropping, a change in management became necessary. Two cooperatives had sprung up in the province for the joint processing of grapes, whose technical support had been entrusted to winemaker Carlo Zadra, formerly a viticulturist at the Castello, which had meanwhile passed to the Milanese Kettlitz Reschigna family.

In 2022, a new transition is made and the Castle property is sold to Angelo and Daniel Gotti. The two are not involved in viticulture (they are founders and owners of Kask spa in Chiuduno, a brand that makes helmets for sports, including the official helmet for the Tour de France 2022), but they hire a team capable of revolutionizing the farm and the entire structure. They are Stefano Lorenzi, an arboriculturist and consultant for major wineries, called in to serve as general manager, and Paolo Zadra, oenologist and son of Carlo, who literally grew up among the Castello’s vineyards. A motivated and energetic team, who immediately threw down a clear development program.

Renewal operations

First, it started in 2022 with work to clear the forest, an area of about 20 hectares surrounding the estate. This was taken care of by Stefano Lorenzi himself, planting trees such as elderberry, mulberry and blackthorn, as well as varieties of fruit plants, especially the rarer and older ones, to create scaled-up flowering and fruiting and attract fauna to the estate.

Then, there was the consolidation of wine production. First with the planting of a new planting of Cabernet Sauvignon, a grape that is increasingly a reference point for the winery. “Castello di Grumello has always believed in Cabernet Sauvignon because it has always appreciated its longevity,” explains winemaker Paolo Zadra. ” In addition, having most of the vineyards at an altitude between 350 and 400 meters, we can count on longer and deeper ripening, unlike Merlot, which, especially in the last decade, tends to ripen more quickly, even overripe.

A precious native: the Merera

Work on the plantings also included the rediscovery of a forgotten local variety, but one rich in potential: the Merera. Typical of Valcalepio, Merera had always been cultivated by Bergamo farmers within promiscuous vineyards, but during the 1970s it had been discontinued in favor of more productive and commercially interesting varieties. Only after a census of native varieties commissioned by the province was it possible to recognize the genetic autonomy of this grape.

The survey was only completed in 2017, but a few years ago Paolo Zadra had already planted a few plants of it for experimental purposes in a brolo of Grumello Castle. “The Merera, I like to call it in the feminine,” Zadra states. -, is a rather wild plant, little domesticated: this is evident from the foliage, which is always crowded compared to that of other types. It has fairly small, fine-skinned berries. It is harvested around the middle of September. From an enological point of view it gives an acidic fruit, with a low alcohol content because it has less sugar; it has a beautiful purplish color, bright but not loaded. If all these characteristics, until a while ago, were interpreted as negative, today we can say, for the same reasons, that Merera is a very contemporary grape “. Thus, a new vineyard was planted in 2024 to increase the production of this grape that is finding great success in the market.

Tourism: a potential to be discovered

Alongside the winemaking consolidation, there is also the even more ambitious project of developing the facility’s tourism potential. “Our next goal,” says Stefano Lorenzi. – is to restore the rooms on the second floor of the castle and those inside the hamlet that we own to create an accommodation facility. Wine will be the core business of the winery around which everything will revolve, but we will also have a service garden for the bed and breakfast and the production of preserves and liqueurs from the fruit trees we have planted and from an ancient citrus grove on terraces dating back to the 1700s that we are recovering. Our idea is to create a well-rounded experience for those who visit this corner of Valcalepio “.

At present, the Castle is already open to the public, by reservation, for guided tours, vineyard walks, and tastings of its wines accompanied by typical products.

The characteristics of Grumello Castle

The Castello di Grumello estate covers 35 hectares, of which 15 are planted with vines. Red grapes dominate, Cabernet Sauvignon above all, of which the estate is the leading grower in the area. Then there is a share of Merlot, about one hectare of Moscato di Scanzo and half a hectare of the aforementioned Merera. The remainder is devoted to whites with Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio and almost one hectare dedicated to two hardy vines, PiWi Bronner and Johanniter.

From an agronomic point of view, the company follows integrated pest management protocols, with reduced systemic pest management. In addition, it was the first in Valcalepio, more than a decade ago, to adopt the cover crop method, or cover crops to protect the soil and increase its fertility.

Biodiversity is ensured by the forest share, an area of nearly 20 hectares surrounding the vineyards, which is a valuable resource of moisture and crop diversity.

The farm vineyards

Among the estate’s holdings, located on the hill of Grumello del Monte in the best exposure and at an altitude of about 300 meters, the Colle Calvario vineyard-a true Mga, the only one in the area-stands out, on the knoll that gives its name to the estate’s most representative wine, the Colle Calvario Reserve, from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes, which is flanked by Burdunì.

Giving character to these soils is the proportion of calcareous marl and rock that prevails on the higher hill fronts of Valcalepio. On the hilly areas facing the Castle, characterized by clay soils, the remaining part of the vineyards, destined for the production of VR Valcalepio Doc Rosso, extends instead.

Finally, at the foot of the estate’s medieval walls we find a “brolo,” a vineyard surrounded by dry stone walls, whose perimeter encloses the half-hectare of Merera, where the Medera label is born. The remaining 20 percent of white grapes-Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Bronner and Johanniter-is instead located both on the hillside and on the hillside and gives birth to the Le Noci and the VB Valcalepio DOC Bianco labels.

The age of the vineyards ranges from the youngest Cabernet Sauvignon, replanted in 2022, to the Moscato di Scanzo vineyard planted in the 1960s and the Colle Calvario Cabernet Sauvignon, which is about 40-50 years old. All other plantings replaced the previous ones from the mid-1990s until today.

The company’s entire production currently amounts to about 70-80 thousand bottles a year, and the wines are produced and stored in the castle’s cellar, under whose centuries-old vaults coexist modern fermentation equipment and barrels made of precious woods.