Nestled in San Pietro in Cariano, at the heart of the Valpolicella Classica zone in the Veneto, Azienda Agricola Nicolis is a family estate with deep roots and an unwavering commitment to authenticity. The story begins in 1951, when Angelo Nicolis — together with his wife Natalia — set out to transform their family's generations-old tradition of winemaking into something the world could experience. Their first commercially bottled vintage came in 1978, and from that moment on, the Nicolis name became synonymous with honest, terroir-driven wines from one of Italy's most storied wine regions.
Today, the estate spans 49 hectares (121 acres) of meticulously farmed vineyards across the rolling hills of San Pietro in Cariano and its surroundings. The torch has been passed to the second generation — brothers Giancarlo, who tends the vines, and Giuseppe, who commands the cellar — with the third generation, Angelo and Sofia, already learning the craft at their father's side.
Giuseppe Nicolis is the soul of the cellar. His philosophy is simple but demanding: nothing artificial enters the wine, at any stage. No herbicides, no pesticides, no lab-grown yeast. Giuseppe's approach honors the land and lets the character of the Valpolicella Classica express itself freely in every bottle. His flagship achievement is Ambrosan, a single-vineyard Amarone drawn from the estate's most prized parcel — but the Classico Amarone reflects the same dedication and craft, vineyard-by-vineyard, vintage-by-vintage.
2019 was an exceptional year across the Veneto. A warm, dry growing season with well-timed rainfall delivered grapes of outstanding quality — concentrated, balanced, and with the structural integrity needed to produce great Amarone. The vintage is widely celebrated by critics for its depth and aging potential.
The grapes — a classic blend of Corvina (65%), Rondinella (20%), Croatina (10%), and Molinara (5%) — are harvested by hand in late September and laid out in Nicolis's specialist fruttaio drying loft. There, the bunches rest on open bamboo racks for approximately 90 days, slowly losing water and concentrating all the richness, complexity, and intensity that define Amarone. Once dried to around one-third of their original weight, the grapes are gently crushed and fermented using only wild, indigenous yeasts — no shortcuts, no intervention.
The wine then spends 30 months maturing in large traditional Slavonian oak botti, which impart subtle structure and allow the wine to breathe and evolve without masking its natural character. A further 6 months of bottle aging rounds out the final profile before release.
