Not once, but twice did I have the opportunity to visit Monte del Frà Azienda Agricola. Located in the village of Custoza on the hills of Lake Garda. In the Sommacampagna sub-region of Bardolino, this award-winning family winery is a mere 15 minutes from Verona. The first time I visited was in 2019 during a work trip that highlighted the areas and wines of Asti, Acqui, Franciacorta and Custoza. The second was in April 2022 when I was part of a group of journalists and sommeliers who focused upon Bardolino, Chiaretto and Custoza vineyards. (For more about Bardolino, please click here.)
Photo Credit: Monte del Fra
Both visits allowed me to learn from the energetic and gregarious Marica Bonomo, third generation family member of the winery founded in 1958 by Massimo Bonomo who rented land in Monte del Frà and cultivated wheat, strawberries, peaches and grapes. Initially, wines were sold on-site in keeping with the area’s tradition. Now, Monte del Fra is comprised of 200 hectares (137 owned, 63 rented) located in Custoza, Lugana, Bardolino and Valpolicella. Varieties cultivated include Garganega, Trebbiano Toscano, Cortese, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
Monte del Frà is managed by Massimo’s two sons along with their children, of whom Marica is in charge of export and communication. The winery produces about 1.5M bottles each year with 60% designated for export markets – in Marica’s words, “I am 100% passionate about what I do.”
Marica Bonoma is third from the left. Photo Credit: Monte del Fra
Her passion for Monte del Frà showed. During my latest visit, Marica led the group on a tour of the winery to show how the family is getting ready for the future while honoring tradition. A tasting of wines (including a vertical of Ca’ del Magro Custoza Superiore DOC) was followed by an exceptional dinner paired with an array of more stunning wines.
Inspired to learn more, I reached out to Marica who graciously answered a few of my questions about her family, philosophy, winemaking style, the future and more. Following is an edited version of our conversation.
Marica Bonomo (MB): Verona is a unique area, thanks to her history of glaciation. After the big change of temperature, water moved from the mountains and developed the lake, river, hills, waterfalls – there is different terroir within a few kilometers. In Sommacampagna, the glaciation developed soft hills and a terroir of white stones (moraine) that gives a lot of minerality to the style of our wines. The soft acidity comes from the consistent temperature and the blending of Custoza and Bardolino wines. A fusion between minerality, freshness and fruit from local grapes is harmonic. Of course, the teachings from father to son with regards to what was learned from nature and our culture represent the territory where we are born.
GE: How did your father and his brother choose this location for the winery?
MB: This was the location where they arrived with their father and the family to live when they were very young. It was normal to start their vision here.
MB: My father and uncle are the passionate leaders of the winery. They offer a huge contribution towards the vision of terroir and value. That’s what they taught us and what we try to do every day. My father is also the supervisor of the vineyard and the “eye” that selects new vineyards to buy. My uncle supervises the winemaking process in order to assure that there’s continuity in the style, but with an nod to the future.
GE: Marica, what is your philosophy towards winemaking and the style at Monte del Frà?
MB: The winemaker isn’t the protagonist in the glass of wine. He or she just needs to transmit the identity of our terroir and fuse the land and grapes together so that there’s a focus on elegance.
GE: Producing wines of quality is important to the family. How do you assure that the wines at Monte del Frà are quality driven?
MB: My father taught me that the last step is never done – we have to work hard to preserve our origin and identity. One way to do this is to always work our own vineyards and collect daily data on each.
GE: How are you achieving sustainability in the vineyards?
MB: Sustainability is becoming a huge focus for us – not only in the vineyard abut everywhere. In the vineyard we use drip irrigation that permits us to use just 30% of the water than we did before. We use strategies to avoid grapes developing bacteria like tignoletta. We use the technique of “Sovescio” and plant new herbs to remineralize the terroir, then we cut the herbs with a machine. The mission is to give the vines a long life, the secret to unique character and style in a glass of wine.
Next October, we’ll start rebuilding the winery that will focus not only on increasing its size and welcome visitors, but having a cellar for experimenting with grapes. Last but not least, we’ll have a strong focus on energy thanks to a new geothermic machine and photovoltaic system that will produce 100% of the energy we’ll use. We’ll also have a de-purification system that will permit us to clean then reuse water for the vineyard. As you can see, we’re sustainable at 360 degrees.
GE: With so many wines from which to choose, why should consumers choose those from Monte del Frà?
MB: Because our wines are terroir-driven and authentic! Each wine is elegant and very drinkable and is a result of a lot of research in the vineyards. The wine lover who has chosen a wine from Monte del Frà knows that there’s a strict joining between the terroir and indigenous grape – we produce wines with a strong identity. Any wine lover is always welcome to come and visit us. We can’t wait to share our wines and passion with new friends.
MB: The wines of Custoza and Bardolino are “la dolce vita” wines that are light, fresh, fruity, easy to drink… but smart! Pair wines from Custoza with pasta, vegan food or fish and amazing Bardolino wines with salame and cheese, chicken, crispy calamari or lightly spiced dishes. Cà del Magro Custoza Superiore, is our cru and it is wonderful with different food from Italy and the world such as oysters, sushi, fish, risotto or vegetables. Incredible!
MB: The latest one was when we discovered that our Cà del Magro was added in the top 100 best wines of the world from Wine Spectator. I was in Germany, and when I called my father to inform him about it, my husband had already told him. We were not able to talk on the phone – the emotions were so big. Even if we did not talk, it was one of the greatest conversations of my life. When I got back home, we looked into each others’ eyes and said, “And now? How we can do better?”
For more detailed information about Monte del Frà, please click here.
Cheers! ~ Cindy
