Azienda Agricola Anteo

About Winery and Wines

The cellars are surrounded by beautiful countryside, steeped in history, next to a sixteenth century church, Saint Michael the Archangel, in a tiny village in the hills overlooking Montalto Castle and the medieval fortress. The road stops here, at an altitude of roughly 380 meters, and makes way for an ancient country path. With woods, thickets and vineyards as far as the eye can see, busy towns and traffic notable for their absence, we enjoy a healthy climate, clean fresh air and a breathtaking landscape. The Anteo winery Our winery is located here and it's named after a figure of classic mythology: Anteo the giant, son of Gaea (the Earth). Anteo fought and soundly defeated all challengers. His strength came from his mother, who filled him with vital energy at every touch. This inspired our father to name the company "Anteo". It receives its energy from its own land: 30 hectares of vineyards located in one of the top Pinot Noir growing areas of the Oltrepò Pavese region.

The Oltrepò Pavese, the most important wine-growing area in Lombardy, has a very long tradition of winemaking: in Roman times, the writer Strabone called the area "the land of the people with big barrels". The vastness and complexity of the territory mean there are many different soil types of and microclimates, at different altitudes, each particularly suitable for one variety rather than another. Pinot Noir is one of them, a noble but difficult vine that has been tried and has failed in many a vine-growing region throughout the world. Here the Pinot Noir has found an ideal habitat, so much so that the Oltrepò Pavese area is second only to Burgundy and Champagne for its production. Boxes with grapes of Pinot Noir The Anteo estate is situated east of Rocca de' Giorgi heading towards Valle Versa, in one of the most renowned areas for the growing of Pinot Noir. In the late XIX century a group of French wine experts lead a serious pedoclimatic analysis of the land to begin the growing of the Pinot Noir from French cuttings. All subsequent studies have confirmed the great potential of the Rocca de' Giorgi sub-area for the growing of a top quality Pinot Noir. The recent "Guide to the Denominazione di Origine Pinot Nero in the Oltrepò Pavese area", published in 2008 by the Consorzio di Tutela dei Vini, has described the peculiar features of the Pinot Noir in each of the Oltrepò Pavese sub-areas in which it is grown.