Credited with single-handedly reversing the waning reputation of the Veneto wine region, Roberto Anselmi is a charismatic believer in the quality potential of the Garganega grape variety, which is the white variety of Soave.

In 2000, Roberto Anselmi decided he’d had enough of the Soave region’s low quality wines, lack of ambition, and overly restrictive regulations. He made the bold decision to leave the Soave appellation to pursue a more focused and independent winemaking style to capture the viticultural potential at his sites. Roberto believes in a quality over quantity minded approach and he worked hard to project a better reputation for the Soave area, but he wouldn’t accept any compromises. So even after putting the region on the map for quality wines, he ‘divorced’ the appellation by writing an open letter stating “You are not “suave” as your name implies, you are uncontrollable, untamable, unfaithful. So that’s it. I’m going. I’m leaving you, and this letter tells you why…”

Today, Anselmi continues to focus on raising the quality bar and continuing to improve the perception of Italian wines worldwide. Roberto’s quality-minded approach starts in the vineyard with the grapes and extends to the cellar where he uses cold maceration and low temperature fermentation. Anselmi is the first in Italy to utilize French oak to ferment and mature white wines and utilizes advanced and current technology during the vinification process.

The Anselmi property covers 70 hectares on the highest slopes of the hills between Monteforte and Soave. Roberto’s vines have an ideal south facing exposure on the higher slopes growing on tuffaceous soil in the Capitel Foscarino vineyard, and calcareous soil in the Capitel Croce vineyard.

His main objective in leaving the appellation was to introduce methods that benefited the quality of the wine, moving from a system that produced a very high quantity of grapes to one allowing a more intensive development of the fruit’s personality. For his Garganega clones that are less productive but a higher quality he chose guyot trained (or spurred) cordons for a higher density of master plants, low fruit production per plant and just a few bunches on each vine growing close to the old wood. The quality of the grapes is further enhanced by a close pruning “vendange verte” and by making the most meticulous selection of the grapes. The winery produces about 750,000 bottles a year of high-quality wines.

While the break-up from the Soave appellation was a bold move, it was a move that paid off. Today, Anselmi is widely considered one of Italy’s best white wine producers and is credited with single-handedly reversing the waning reputation of the Veneto wine region.

Anselmi WINES IN OUR PORTFOLIO

2019 Anselmi Realda

$390.00 for 6 bottles
for 6 bottles

2021 Anselmi San Vincenzo

$540.00 for 12 bottles
for 12 bottles

2021 Anselmi Capitel Foscarino

$390.00 for 6 bottles
for 6 bottles

2021 Anselmi Capitel Croce

$390.00 for 6 bottles
for 6 bottles
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