Brunelli – Wine Tasting & Winery

The Brunelli family has its ancient roots in the 18th century. Three brothers living in Valpolicella begun farming – as sharecroppers – the fields and lands belonging to a noble family of Verona which owned, besides the master’ villa, a farm surrounding an horseshoe-shaped courtyard known with the name of Corte Cariano, where they could live in exchange for work.
The three brothers farmed their fields around the courtyard without owning them, dedicating their life to the production of corn and crops and training horses and cattle. They started, little by little, to produce Recioto and Valpolicella wines, destining as per contract half of the whole product to the lord and owner of the lands.
The wine produced in small quantity was used at first just into the family, until a bishop visiting San Pietro made them aware of the goodness of their product. The wine was starting to be known in the local villages and districts.
In 1936, the great-grandfather Angelo decided to stop farming, just to be completely focused on the production of fine wines, founding the estate the same year.After the Second World War, Angelo passed responsibility of the winery to his son Giuseppe, who revealed to have an innate attitude to the production and the commerce of wines made of indigenous grapes, also thanks to the firm support of his wife Gaetana.
In 1975 Luigi Brunelli takes over the reins of the winery from his father. After some years he gets married with Luciana, the daughter of a passionate vine-grower of Custoza in love with the white varieties.
In 2005, with their son Alberto working at full time in the winery, the winery expands the ageing cellar and the drying loft. Corte Cariano undergoes a deep restoration to obtain an agriturismo with four rooms and apartments and a wine shop, which reflect a particularly thoughtful attention to the original raw materials and atmospheres.
Respect for tradition, balanced by a particularly attitude to attentive innovation is today one of the inspiring values of the Brunelli family.

Since the 18th century, our Name has always been closely connected to San Pietro in Cariano, the central and main village of the Classic Valpolicella area, one of the most charming and renowned wine districts in Italy.
Located exactly between Verona and Lake Garda, Valpolicella perfectly represents the synthesis of many different elements. A mineral soil and rich in limestone, a rare and wonderful mosaic of indigenous grape varieties, a Mediterranean climate influenced by the breezes coming from the lake nearby and an ideal South-Southwest exposure which combines with a respectful, sustainable and passionate work in the vineyards and with the appassimento technique, favouring the concentration of sugars and extractive substances.