Let's discover the Del Rebene brand: here is our interview

An ancient village, a hilly terroir of great landscape suggestion and an immense territory. These are the three ingredients of Azienda Agricola Del Rébene, a family-run business that since 2007, with total respect for the territory and in the sustainability of its mission, has been dedicated to the cultivation of vines in the heart of the Berici Hills of Vicenza. Del Rèbene is located here and is called in this way because of the name of the hilly coast on which it stands, 'Rebène', from the term Reben brought by the Cimbrian settlers and which means 'vine, vine'.

The Del Rèbene farm covers 23 hectares on a hill that originated from an ancient volcanic chimney. And it is precisely on these lands that Francesco Castegnaro abandoned his career as a lawyer, decided to cultivate almost 5 hectares of vines and 3 hectares of olive trees, in a place that was already considered ideal for winemaking in ancient times. In reality, the top of the hill and its steep slopes are also cultivated with olive trees, cherries and vegetables of various kinds. The lands, bathed in the sun and served by water from the nearby Fontana del Monte, are ideal for growing quality fruits and vegetables.

The company uses renewable energy sources and has been run with a certified biodynamic and organic method since 2007, allowing the grapes to reach full maturation so as to make quality wines in an uncontaminated site completely surrounded by woods.
In the Colli Berici district, Rèbene is the highest vineyard, at 300m above sea level, and this is where the cultivars Carmenère, Cabernet Suvignon, Cabernet Frank and Tai Rosso find the ideal conditions to release their organoleptic characteristics. The clay soil rich in nutrients, very steep and facing south, the mild and ventilated climate, the altitude and the drip irrigation give red grapes great qualities and elegant and fruity aromatic nuances.

We like these realities, these producers of unique, certified and award-winning delicacies: they are real treasures embedded in our Peninsula between seas and mountains and in the most remote streets of villages and countryside. We don't stop to experience only their products, but we want to discover more closely the protagonists of this brand. That's why we sent some questions to those who manage communication with us.

Stay with us and learn about &' Azienda Agricola Del Rébene: read the answers!

• Who are we talking to?
  We are Francesco Castegnaro and Claudia Serblin.
  
• Is the company family run? For how many generations and from what year exactly?
  Yes, it is the first generation, starting production with our 2011 brand.
  
• What year was the company founded and who was the founder? What was the founder's education or what is the work and professional branch from which he came if different from the current one?
  1990, lawyer.
  
• What is the real reason or the triggering fact behind the birth of this company and when did it happen?
  At 24, during a bike ride on the Berici Hills, in the province of Vicenza, I walked along an uncultivated path and discovered the ruins of a village abandoned at the end of the Second World War. That ruin was more than 400 years old and you could see uncultivated vineyards and ancient terraces among the brambles, about 300 meters above sea level. From there, a & #39 was born; idea in my head.
  
• What is your relationship with the land of origin and its typicality? And why do you want to tell them with your products?
  The recovery of a 23-hectare property represented an exciting adventure for me, since I had no idea how much work and sacrifice it could have entailed. Claudia and I, then, met 12 years ago: the passion for nature, the experience of living in the hills and the memories of grape harvests in our youth, united us in a common project.
  
• What was the first product you created?
  Organic EVO oil.
  
• What is the product that today, on the other hand, do you consider “top”?
  Carmenère wine, produced with spontaneous fermentation and with minimal presence of sulfites.
  
• And what is the product that in the entire history of the company has most carried with it the beating heart, philosophy and soul of the company itself?
  The 'red' of Rèbene, an award-winning 2016 Carmenere.
  
• Let's talk about today: how big has the company grown since its inception? Can we get some numbers?
  In 1992, the 23 hectares of property had been completely uncultivated for more than 40 years. Today we have 3 hectares cultivated with olive groves and 5 hectares of vineyards. We produce 100 quintals of olives per year and 15,000 bottles of wine.
  
• Right now: more tradition or more innovation?
  Tradition.
  
• What was the most important evolution of the company to get it to what it is today?
  The construction of the cellar and the tasting room: we vinify, package and offer our products to consumers in complete autonomy.
  
• Speaking instead of the future: what tomorrow will the company wait for? Are there any changes or some new evolutionary process planned?
  The farm is located in the heart of the Berici Hills at 300 meters above sea level: it is an easily accessible area, but at the same time little known, far from sources of pollution and characterized by a microclimate similar to the Mediterranean scrub. We have created an area suitable for hospitality by creating 9 beds, with a tasting room and a large porch. We are located along the Alta Via dei Berici path and for this reason we have equipped ourselves with a bicycle charger. We can offer our guests a “bucolic” dimension with the comforts of technology.
  
• Are you planning to create new products?
  Since 2019 we have chosen to buy organic Garganega grapes and we have created a sparkling white wine and a still wine, thus expanding our proposals. With regard to oils, since 2020 we have also chosen to produce the Rasara and Coratina Monocultivar, bringing the proposed types of organic oils to 3.
  
• Having focused on Spaghetti & Mandolino, how important is online sales for you, what was your relationship in the past with this sales channel and how do you see it in the future?
  We have had no experience with e-commerce. It's the first time. We believe it is useful and indeed necessary also for the future. People have actually gotten used to buying on the web.
  
• Value: what was it, what is it today and what will it be in the future for your company?
  Respect and enhancement of the Berici Hills. The reconstruction of ancient terraces, cultivating the vineyard on steep slopes, making a place that had become inaccessible comfortable and easily usable. There is positive energy here and we are happy to share it with our guests and to “transmit” it also thanks to
our products.

S&M