Le Banchette

Marco, Carlo, and Cristian are three friends brought together by a shared passion for wine. Their journey began in Marco’s garage on Via Banchette in Fumane, in the heart of Valpolicella, with just a few crates of semi-dried grapes, a manual crusher-destemmer, a steel tank, and two secondhand oak barrels. While still working full-time jobs, Marco and Carlo enrolled in evening classes in Viticultural and Oenological Sciences at the University of Verona. After many trials and experiments, they decided to take the leap into professional winemaking. They moved into a larger space—a 645 sq. ft. cellar—and officially bottled their first vintage in 2017. Today, while keeping their full-time jobs, they organically farm 2.5 hectares (~6 acres) planted with classic Valpolicella varieties: Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella, producing around 7,000 bottles (~600 cases) across all four Valpolicella DOC appellations, including the renowned Amarone.