This treasure may not be legendary, but it is all the more tangible

The legend of the Wild Man is about treasure buried in the forest of Monticolo. Now the Wildmonn winegrowing estate in Cornaiano may not be about unearthing buried treasure, but what they do do is produce two extraordinary wines—a treasure, more concrete and tangible than any other. And accessible for everyone to boot.

The raw material grows at an altitude of approx. 500 meters above sea level in the vineyards around the Cornaiano hamlet of Colterenzio, which is famous for its winegrowing tradition. Or, more precisely, it grows beneath the Col dell’uomo (Wilder-Mann-Hügel in German, which literally means: “Wild Man’s Hill”), to which the winegrowing estate owes its name. The soil here consists of moraine rocks resting on a bed of porphyry, an ideal mix to retain heat in the ground.

Nature has been kind to the Wildmonn winegrowing estate, and that is one of the reasons why the three people behind the estate, while always striving for the highest quality, set great store by respecting and preserving it. A few examples: they are going entirely without herbicides; the soil is prepared once a year during the sowing; vine yields are kept low on purpose in order to guarantee only the best quality.

Manual labor also rules in the cellar—that, and lots of peace and quiet. The Pinot Noir Riserva, for example, is left to barrel-age for one and a half years (first in a small oak cask, then in a largewooden barrel) before it is bottled. The bottles will then be stored in the cellar for almost another whole year. Underground, in other words—which brings us back to the topic of buried treasure …