Diego Lavo has been cultivating his passion for the vineyard for over thirty years by taking a professional approach to planting and winemaking. A good many of the new vineyards in Valtènesi have benefited from his work. In ’98 his itinerant consultancy come to rest with the Cantrina winery in Bedizzole, where, along with his work in the vineyard which remained his chosen field of activity, he began to work methodically in the cellar. He first met with Maria Capretti in 2006, to give consultancy on the Pusterla vineyard, and their collaboration took off in 2011. Diego became fascinated by the uniqueness of the Pusterle and the peculiarities of the Invernenga grape. In doing so he took on the challenge of recreating Invernega monovarietals despite the grape being considered virtually impossible to vinify alone; not attempting to do so would have meant an unconditional surrender not in line with his character.
THE VINTNER
The first small harvest was in 2012, followed by 2013, 2014 and the last in 2015. The first approach was as simple and straightforward as possible, in order to verify the potential of the grape. The focus was on the thick skins that distinguish it clearly raising the issue how it should be crushed. The first result, which showed obvious room for improvement, suggested that the variety was not totally neutral; it had its own flavours and undeniable diversity. From vintage to vintage, learning naturally from each, Diego would try to go along with what was expressed by the vines growing in this, the largest area dedicated to their type. Two wines were obtained: Pvsterla Bianco, simpler and easier to understand, and even more drinkable with a slightly almond finish bringing to mind the grapes composition; and Pvsterla 1037 a vintage from 2013. This is the result of an even more careful selection, from older plants with their best grapes fully ripened. No selected yeasts are used and the vilification process is that of a red wine so as to extract as much as possible from those all too important skins: volume and flavour for a wine to be savoured as it evolves on the nose and in the mouth, long lasting to the palate with subtle oxidative notes… Diego’s own words sum up all his efforts with great effect and intuition “I’d like to be able to reproduce in the glass the feelings our grandparents had as they savoured a single grape of Invernenga in December, from the bunch hung up for the holidays”.