La grave del Piave: terrain of great wines

Characteristics of a land, happiness of a climate, temperament of a people.
“Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire” (Gustav Mahler).

The quality of Bonotto wines is inextricably linked to the terrain where the vines grow: the gravelly foreshores of La grave del Piave, an environmental context with geological and climatic characteristics ideal for viticulture.

An ancient riverbed, the soil is characteristically sandy-silty in composition, permeable and carefully drained and infused with gravel and pebbles, which absorb heat during the day and gradually radiate it at night. The favorable climate, which ideally balances wet and sunny days, makes this land the cradle of great wines.

The knowledge of a deeply assimilated winemaking culture values the characteristics of the traditional grape varieties, which are perfectly suited to the environment, with the most refined and accurate winemaking techniques.

La bellussera: age-old vine cultivation in the land of the Piave. The vineyard structured like giant honeycomb, natured embroidered into geometric forms that shape the land like abstract art.

Between ‘800 and the beginning of ‘900, the landscape of the Piave plain was covered with trees. While initially paired with different types of wood species (field maple, Japanese plum, ash), it was found that vines grew excellently when secured to the trunk of mulberry trees, the leaves of which were also being used to raise silkworms, an important source of family income at the time.

At the end of the nineteenth century, brothers Girolamo and Antonio Bellussi of Tezze di Piave (TV) were the first to develop a new system of vine cultivation, with vines attached to the uviferous shoots out of the shade cast by the overhanging trees. By experimenting with a new shape of vertical cords folded horizontally and leaning against wooden poles, they created the The Bellussera, a technique of cultivating vines through their arrangement in rays around a support pole (usually, the Mulberry tree).

The Bellussera was the first real vineyard. While it allowed the vine to be cultivated in an expanded and specialized form, it still allowed the space between the rows to be used for other crops, thus maximizing productivity by allowing their use for sharecropping.

Today, more efficient systems of farming allowing greater density of growth per hectare have replaced the system created by the Bellussi brothers. However, the contribution made by the Bellussera for over a century to the region is still remembered today.