Massimiliano Croci

Philosophy

The passion for the land is handed down from generation to generation in the Croci family.

Going up along the Val d’Arda, on the first hills of Piacenza, right in front of the medieval village of Castell’Arquato, you will find the Croci Winery. Surrounded by a beautiful landscape, the young owner Massimiliano together with his brother Giuseppe, assisted by his father Ermano, manage the family business founded in 1935; for three generations the Croci family has been committed to cultivating these lands with love for nature.

The winery is located on the Monterosso hill in the Val d’Arda, at an altitude of 250 meters, overlooking the Piacenza plain.

The position favored by the sun's rays and the characteristics of the land, lapped millions of years ago by the sea, makes it possible to create characteristic wines.

The hectares are 16 of which about 10 are planted with vines, all the soils are certified organic, the vineyards are trained in the Piacenza Guyot system, grassing is practiced in the vineyard and no toxic substances, herbicides and fertilizers are used, to respect the territory, the vine and its natural cycles. The harvest is done by hand; the time between harvest and pressing is minimal, the grapes are placed in small crates and then processed in an artisanal way to keep all the characteristics and properties of the grapes unaltered.

Massimiliano, since his entry into the company has directed the production towards quality wines, while maintaining all the typicality of Piacenza wines, aware of the need to respect what these lands spontaneously produce. The enhancement and respect for the territory are at the center of the company's objectives and that is why he is committed to continuous research, supporting the different vintages, selecting the grapes based on the natural characteristics and directing them to different methods of vinification and aging in order to give spontaneous, traceable and excellent wines; both young, easy and ready to drink and also mature and more complex.

This is how sparkling wines are born: Alfiere and Alfiere rosé, spontaneously sparkling wines: Gutturnio, Lubigo and Campedello, still wines: San Bartolomeo and ValTolla, and an Ice wine: Emozione di Ghiaccio.

Spontaneously sparkling 

Spontaneous refermentation in the bottle.

Tenuta Vitivinicola Croci has chosen to keep this method of vinification according to the best tradition of the Piacentine hills.

Their sparkling wines acquire effervescence through traditional artisanal vinification:

the wines are bottled still but with a natural residual sugar, when the cellar heats up the indigenous yeasts activate a spontaneous refermentation in the bottle, after having transformed the residual sugars into carbon dioxide and thus exhausted their nutrients, the yeasts settle on the bottom.

These wines, fermenting for a long time in the bottle, acquire truly unique organoleptic characteristics from the particular coexistence with the yeasts. They are clearly distinguished from other sparkling wines for the very fine bubbles that caress the palate, for the delicate scent of bread crust and for the dry and pleasantly bitter taste.

The refinement

The wines with spontaneous refermentation in the bottle are bottled in spring and after a period of maturation, the wine, which has become sparkling, is fully developed and ready to drink towards the end of the summer. At the beginning there are gentle fruity flavors combined with strong hints of yeast. Later the wines acquire greater finesse and complexity.

The best period for consumption may vary according to the vintage but in general it is the year following bottling.

This particular method of vinification and refermentation allows for very long-lived sparkling wines, thus appreciating their evolution over the years.