We begin this 2008 with a long list of programs and adjustments, and we care as always to clearly inform and communicate about the winery's news and changements.
For this purpose, we're renewing and enriching our website. We want it to be the easiest and fastest way to communicate with our friends... and we are impressed by the number of visits it gets - from Italy as from many other countries; we will make our best effort to keep it regularly updated.
Internet is also the best way to receive your questions, suggestions and critics. We'll love to read you and answer.

The labels: while the line "Villa Alessi" - that will change to "Zanovello" in the first 5/6 months of this year - will keep the same wine names and labels, the "Ca' Lustra" labels will be slightly restyled towards the past, with a more classic and traditional look, as our customers demand since long time.

We took an unusual decision for us, in order to make the replacement of wine's vintages faster, and to fix a bit of slowliness we noticed on the selling of "Ca' Lustra" line of wines (instead, Villa Alessi wines sold out faster than we thought) : we are going to empty the whole storage (with the exclusion of the sparkling Fior d'Arancio muscat, and the Serprino) applying the 3 x 2 discount until the cange of vintage. It is about 50.000 bottles, most of which are 2005 reds, and in smaller quantities the 2006 whites.
The Marzemino Belvedere 2005 is also discounted: altough its very high quality it didn't get the customer's attention the way we hoped (maybe because most of the folks still think to Marzemino as a slightly sweet and sparkling wine). For the same reason, the new Belvedere 2006, already available, is proposed at a little lower list price.
All our price list will be very slightly rised, just to cover the higher cost of the raw materials.

Other news: the white wine bottles in the "Zanovello" line will change back to the classic "burgundy style", appreciated more by the professional customers.
After 15 years of experiments on small lots, this year we will start using 10/15.000 technical seals on bottling fractions of the "Zanovello" whites and the Sassonero 2006. We have chosen the high technology (and high cost) "Guala" seals, that ensure to the wines perfect integrity as well as the proper maturation in the bottle.

We bottled a limited quantity of Cabernet Franc (Carmenere) 2006 in purity. Being asked for that from two small european importers, we made nearly a thousand bottles more, to check the market response here in Italy. We still have some bottles of Serprino "sur lie", that means sparkling because of a secondary fermentation in the bottle. It's somewhat nostalgic as we made it in that way in the '80s. Although being more dry than its "usual" version -as it lacks of residual sugar-, it is a nice wine, and cheaper. These two wines aren't in the price list, but you can find them at the winery.

We just bottled the Passiti 2006, Fior d'Arancio and red Marzemino, as well as the Natì(v)o 2006 now called Natìo because the original brand name was already copyrighted by another company. It is a very good vintage for this bordeaux-style wine made from a very long maceration (5/6 months) with the skins in small oak barrels.

Last year we completed the enlargement of the production spaces, and we now made our office a little bigger. This will allow us in a brief while to give more room and air to our old selling point, and make it more confortable. You'll get a table and some more chairs, at least!

So, if someone was missing a reason for taking a break and come here in the Euganean hills, now got one!