Vigiö - Bonarda dell’Oltrepò Pavese DOC (frizzante)

Sparkling red wine
It was the end of January 1943, the Russian campaign had ended dramatically, and among the soldiers waiting to be repatriated was Luigi Calatroni. He had to reach his home town as quickly as possible. At stake was a contract that had been handed down from father to son for three generations and had to be signed so that Luigi could become a sharecropper. Armed with his tenacity, between long walks, underground trains, wagons and makeshift vehicles, in two months he crossed half of Europe, from Leningrad (now St Petersburg) to Montecalvo Versiggia.

To Luigi - known as Vigiö - we have dedicated this Bonarda from pure Croatina grapes, cultivated with the same tenacity with which he was able to obtain what he wanted. Macerated about 7 days on the skins, naturally re-fermented, it is a Bonarda with structure, tannic and austere, with a rich and decisive nose. To be drunk with local dishes, cured meats, stuffed pasta or even a tasty boiled meat. To enjoy the pleasantness of the bubble we recommend serving it at 14 °C.

The Bonarda project

Bonarda Vigiö is part of the Bonarda project, devised and promoted by the Distretto del Vino di Qualità dell'Oltrepò Pavese (Quality Wine District of the Oltrepò Pavese area) to promote the territory's most typical wine. The project is publicised on social media with the hashtag #laMossaPerfetta.

The project envisages a production regulation that is much more restrictive than that of Bonarda DOC and a bottle with a special shape (called Marasca) that can only be used by companies associated with the District.

When you drink #laMossaPerfetta you are guaranteed to drink a wine produced by companies that grow the grapes in their own vineyards, vinify them in their own cellars and market the wine made from those grapes directly.

The Calatroni family

In 1964 grandfather Luigi bought the land that two generations of the Calatroni family have been working as sharecroppers. We began our venture producing traditional wines from Croatina and Barbera grapes, but from 2002 on, under the guidance of brothers Cristian and Stefano, the youngest generation of the family, the focus has more and more shifted to Pinot Noir. We vinify the noble grape as a red wine and especially as white and rosé Metodo Classico sparkling wines. The current production of Metodo Classico has reached 100.000 bottles, all carrying the Oltrepò Pavese Metodo Classico DOCG.

“The first vintage of our Metodo Classico sparkling wines was in 2008. Right from the very beginning, we had a clear vision of the style of our Metodo Classico: elegant, fresh, mineral bubbles, that must be the truest expression of the grape, of the soils where it’s planted and the peculiarities of the vintage”

Today, the Calatroni brothers grow about 25 hectares of organic vineyards with the invaluable help of their parents Fausto and Marisa, embracing sustainability as the core value of their philosophy of work. In recent years we opened our agriturismo and launched our hospitality program.

“We are fully aware of the vital importance of safeguarding the environment in which we live and which offers us the basic resources to produce our wines. That’s why environmental, social and food sustainability issues have become more and more relevant to us over the years, inspiring a set of choices and practices”

Visiting our winery is not just a chance to taste our wines: we hope to offer you an insight into the Oltrepò Pavese region and its wine & food culture, to let you feel the passion that constantly fuels our love for wine and to share with you our vision and our dreams.