Roberto Zeni, after a long effort, endless questions and practices, had obtained from the representative authorities, in the South Tyrol, the Emperor of Austria Francesco Giuseppe I of Habsburg and Lorraine, the license to open a tavern near the bridge over the Adige .
Friends and acquaintances celebrated him and on that occasion, grandfather Roberto Zeni, made a Teroldego wine obtained from the first harvest of some vineyards in "Pini".
The Campo Rotaliano, the cradle of Teroldego, was born at that time when the Empress Lorraine of Habsburg had the hydraulic drainage of the river Adige and the Noce torrent reclaimed, creating an ideal terrain for vineyard cultivation.
Also the Pini vineyard with the land reclamation spreads and with the passing of the years the grandfather buys vineyard plots adding the vineyards of Pinotti, Zaraosti, Broili, Sortì.
At present, the family context remains the basis of our activity, production has stabilized around one hundred and ninety thousand bottles obtained from the processing of a vineyard area of about twenty hectares. The innovations in the vineyard in the cellar and in the distillery are not lacking thanks to a continuous modernization of work tools as well as professional training.
In 1994 the conversion of the Maso Nero vineyard began to bear its first fruits, succeeding in giving a further qualitative imprint to wines such as Nosiola, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Nero and Moscato Rosa. In the same year the will to believe in a vine and in the maximum expression of the territory led us to evaluate the potential of the Nosiola grape as the basis of a sparkling wine fermented in autoclave: Arlecchino was born, sparkling wine excellent as an aperitif but also by to accompany appetizers and pasta dishes with shellfish and shellfish.
In recent years the greatest effort has focused on two fronts; the first in the vineyard, in order to achieve a correct maturation of the grapes thus allowing to enchant a very sugary raw material and in the case of red grapes with soft and complex tannins.
Second and subsequent front is the processing of grapes with the technique of withering and improvement of the conduct of alcoholic fermentation. The drying is a very widespread technique in the world enological panorama but in Trentino it has never taken hold, except for the production of Vino Santo Trentino.
In 1999, it was decided to equip ourselves with a fair number of "arele" revisited in a modern key to be able to put out the Pinot Bianco grapes; the aim was to increase the aromas of this vine. From simple but elegant aromas we were able to obtain a bouquet of incredible aromas such as pineapple, apricot, hints of wildflower honey as well as an important alcohol content. Thus the new version of the Sortì was born, produced since 1976.
The results of this wine made us look far ahead and with another pioneering action in 2003 we went to harvest a few quintals of Teroldego grapes to be placed on these modern arele. The result was surprising: the color is still concentrated and becomes impenetrable by light, an ethereal, intense aroma of small fruits, blackcurrants, raspberries, cherries, slightly spicy. A technique therefore fully centered and used at two levels: the Teroldego after only 30 days is joined to the reserve of Teroldego Pini while that part of grapes that is left to wither until Christmas gives birth to Ororosso, the last born of the Zeni family.
Even in the distillery the news has not been lacking. In 1994 the alembic was modified in order to obtain an even purer, finer product capable of transmitting the aromas of fresh pomace. In the same year the aging room was expanded where the Pini grappa is aged and aged; the first Pini grappa was born in 1984 with only six years of aging in oak to pass to that of 10 years. Objective of the future, perhaps of the new generation, will be that of a grappa aged 20 years.
Information about Zeni Schwarzhof Maso Nero