17 April 2005
The designer lady - The Day
Il Giorno publishes an article on Azienda Agricola Cantrina, here are the highlights:
The lady designer who put life in a bottle
BY MAGDA BIGLIA
(...) The Cantrina winery is a dream, shattered by tragedy, reborn in hope. Thanks to the strength and tenacity of Cristina Inganni, from interior decorator to wine expert. That beautiful old mansion overlooking the hills of the Valtènesi, surrounded by greenery, just a stone's throw from the old village and the 18th-century church, had appealed to Dario Dattoli, a Calabrian all-star, a revolutionary entrepreneur in the city's restaurant industry. It was a return to the land for him, there was a great passion for the vine, which has ancient history there. It was love. A love paid with his life, on a sad morning under the tractor, between the rows of vines, personally spreading pesticides despite working at the restaurant until late at night. A love bequeathed to Cristina together with the estate in the hamlet of Cantrina di Bedizzole. They had been together for a few years, married for one. And she? Away from Brescia, away from work, Dario's dream must continue. Dattoli had founded the Cantrina estate in ’90, in ’98 without him Cristina became one of the women of wine in the province of Brescia. And the art? “I do something that has to do with art. There is poetry in a glass. I put some of my own into it. I still work with my hands, as I like, and with my soul. The beginnings were difficult, there are many producers». In Bedizzole alone there are four companies, another in the same Cantrina. It was necessary to be different. «I could hear Dario's voice urging me on, “you'll see you'll make it”, I could feel it everywhere». But there are two men in Cristina's life, who have accompanied her by the hand from the world of paintbrushes to the world of grapes, from city habits to the silence of the large must-scented house. Now beside her is an expert in the field, a connoisseur of the winegrowing world and the area, her husband Diego Lavo: together, with the advice of the Verona-based oenological team Zyme, they have begun the adventure. Going out on the market, small numbers but innovation, «a lot of selection in search of personality». And if a vintage doesn't allow it, you skip it. «Igt, less rigid than dee, leaves freedom of selection and matching». Basically, it's like chasing a work of art. The French masters, visited and admired, the small, non-commercial ones. «Starting from scratch was an advantage. I have no handed-down dogmas or traditions, it's easier to experiment. Entering the vineyard and cutting, choosing doesn't cause me any trauma, even if Guerrino the precious farmer gives me a dirty look». Moreover, Cristina who comes from the city knows that image is important and does not disdain the tools of communication. (...)