Tenuta Santa Maria is a private estate of the Bertani family. Located in the Arbizzano frazione of Negrar, one of the most highly regarded terroirs of the Valpolicella Classica, the 16th century Villa Mosconi Bertani and its vineyards are intertwined with the history of the regions' most famous wine - Amarone. The great grandfather of today's proprietor, Gaetano Bertani, along with his brother Giovan Battista, founded the estate in 1857. The family was responsible for the introduction of the term 'Amarone', coined in 1936 within the very cellars of the villa complex in reference to a wine the Bertani family had been producing since the early 1900s under the name 'Recioto Secco'.
The estate, along with the Colognola ai Colli property in the Val d'illasi to the east, were retained post 2013 when the Gruppo Bertani was sold. Today Gaetano, along with his sons Giovanni & Guglielmo, work to express the quality of this land by combining traditional methods, selected technology, and experience passed down through generations of family tradition. The vineyards are in organic conversion.
