Montenetto di Brescia

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The province of Brescia is sharply divided between the northern part, with the Lombard Pre-Alps, and the southern part, with the Po Plain, the approximate boundary running along the Milan–Venice railway line.
• South of the city of Brescia rises Monte Netto, a promontory standing clearly above the plain, falling within the municipalities of Capriano del Colle and Poncarale.
• Monte Netto has no irrigation water and features predominantly clay soils, with an agricultural profile typical of hilly terrain in which the vine is the most important crop.
• Below the railway line lies the zone of the Lombard spring-fed streams (fontanili), which supports a thriving cereal and livestock farming economy.
• The soils of the zone are generally clayey and limestone-free, with the exception of part of the municipality of Poncarale, and enjoy excellent sun exposure well suited to viticulture.
• The slopes of Monte Netto are gently inclined and the summit presents a false plateau, characteristics that allow the mechanisation of viticulture on soils with no other agricultural vocation.

• The agronomist Agostino Gallo, resident in the village of Poncarale from 1548, was the first to describe the Marzemino variety in his compendium 'Le dieci giornate della vera agricoltura e piaceri della villa'.
• The 1970 Viticulture and Wine Register recorded approximately 1,500 hectares nationally planted to Marzemino as the principal variety, with 760 hectares concentrated in the province of Brescia, more than one third of the vines being over seven years old.
• After phylloxera and the degradation of the vine heritage through the spread of hybrids such as Clinton, the dedication of growers enabled the reconstitution of a quality viticulture as soon as techniques made it possible.

• The white wines generally show a modest level of acidity, with floral and fruity aromas.
• The red wines, across all wine types, display a broad, vinous and characteristic nose, with a fresh, savoury, dry and harmonious palate that is supple and of medium structure.

• The hybrid 'Clinton', widespread after phylloxera, reached very high alcohol levels in this zone in particular, owing to the favourable soil and environmental conditions of the territory.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Italy

Sources

• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PGI-IT-A1256
• Official trade body site — Consorzio Montenetto