A visit to Mongarda Prosecco

Mongarda Winery is located in the Valdobbiadene region which quite literally translates for all those fizz lovers out there as the Superiore area for Prosecco production – Where quality meets traditions and expertise over just quantity.

I was delighted to be welcomed by and shown around the winery and vineyards plus have a private tasting with magnificent views with the daughter of the family Anna Tormena who shared with me the wineries secrets and passions for making Prosecco Superiore.

The location of the vines are typical to the region of Valdobbiadene where steep hills and sun traps are plenty giving the best possible positioning for growing grapes and undoubtedly the best results for making Prosecco. It is all manual labour mostly for this region of course, and the family of father and son (Bruno & Martino Tormena) currently work the vines and the wine making production for Mongarda in Col San Martino – Even on the afternoon of my visit Bruno Tormena, owner, was busy on his mini loader with fresh cement to build pathways for usage during maintenance of the vines and picking (as mentioned, these vineyards are on steep hills)!

If you are searching for a small family owned Prosecco Superiore label to explore then Mongarda is a fine example producing approximately 30,000 bottles a year from their 10,000 hectares (between the villages of Col San Martino, Farra di Soligo, Miane and Valdobbiadene) which tells you they are focused on quality over quantity as they could easily produce many more bottles. As Anna said to me “it is more important that we use the best grapes to produce the best wines” and this undoubtedly shines through in their wines.

I tasted through their wines whilst we were at one of their rural located property surrounded by vines and with great views across the hills of vineyards and hill top villages, it is certainly an environment to maximise the pleasure of drinking their wines! You can certainly experience a consistency in the wines, you can tell they are from the same producer. The full flavours of floral and fruits hit you with their crispness, yet they are subtle, creamy and refreshing and purely more’ish – Some occasions and locations it is always hard to do a professional tasting as you simply want to indulge yourself in the moment and the splendid wines in front of you! But alas…

There are lots of traditions with Mongarda, you certainly feel taken back a few decades when you learn about the age of some of the vines, from the 1950’s and the fact that they still produce grapes such as Perera, Verdiso, Bianchetta, and Boschera which are co-harvested to add with the Glera they produce. The Tormena family is most certainly a family of wine lovers, dedicated to their work and their industry and proud of their contribution to Prosecco Superiore.