Terra Felice on the Euganean Hills between past and present

Terra Felice: what better name for a winery where you can buy a bottle of wine to bring a fragment of territory with you? The territory we are talking about is that of the Euganean Hills that rise suddenly in the surrounding plain and are what remains of long-extinct volcanoes: evidence of ancient volcanic activities are today the hot springs, already known in Roman times, which emerge in Abano and Montegrotto Terme.

The happy wine of a great territory

Loved by the writers of the Grand Tour, the 100 Euganean Hills are also called the Hills of Venice because they are just 60 kilometers from the lagoon city, but they are a corner of Veneto in the province of Padua to be discovered or rediscovered as an ideal destination for autumn, including walks and bike rides and tastings in the cellar.

In fact, the cones that emerge between the green and the mist that makes the contours blurred, are also an exceptional terroir for wines.
Wine has been made here for more than two thousand years and today the Consorzio Vini dei Colli Euganei gathers a hundred producers who grow their grapes in the Euganean Hills Regional Park which extends over 19 thousand hectares, of which three thousand are planted with vineyards.

The company we have chosen for our tasting is that of Elena Cardin, who represents the fifth generation of winemakers of the winery that takes its name from the grandfather Felice and is located on the hills around Arquà Petrarca, an intact medieval village that preserves the house and the tomb of the great poet Francesco Petrarca who wanted to settle here to benefit from the mild climate and the presence of thermal waters for his treatments. But in the village, in addition to the poet, Grandpa Felice is also remembered, always barefoot and riding his bicycle on one pedal!

Terra Felice wines are made from Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay grapes grown in ten hectares of vineyards on soils rich in trachyte, limestone and clay mixed with layers of marl.

The vineyards nourish their clusters with the properties of the volcanic territory of these hills which have characteristics that give back wines of the highest level and strong personality, especially in the Bordeaux blended reds. The choice to focus on reds also derives from the exposure of the land, worked with traditional farming methods and with sustainable products, while minimal interventions are used in the cellar.

Elena, who has been in charge of the cellar since 2015, tells us what all this means in numerical terms, in front of a platter of strictly local cold cuts and cheeses, in the Terra Felice cellar.

The harvest is determined by no more than three clusters per plant, therefore a bottle of wine is obtained from each vineyard that contains very important aromatic notes as in the area south of the Euganean Hills the climate is purely Mediterranean.
In fact, when we arrived on a warm and sunny Sunday morning in mid-October, we immediately noticed how much the vegetation around the cellar reminds us of that of the Apulian countryside among olive, almond and jujube trees and rosemary and sage plants.

While, Elena explains, in the soils with northern exposures the cooler climate favors an alpine type vegetation with chestnut trees, locust trees, butcher’s broom and many species of mushrooms. In short, there is something for all tastes! And above all, there are the conditions to produce excellent wines.

Chardonnay is the only white made from small productions of grapes from the vineyards facing north that give the wine a delicate and fruity aroma, while the elegant and harmonious flavor is complex at the same time, so much so that it lends itself well to refinement in the bottle.
Garrulo is the light, thin and delicate bubble, obtained from Pinot Noir grapes, according to the method of refermentation in the bottle “on the lees”.

While we taste accompanying our sips with a delicate goat cheese, bites of more seasoned cheese, raw ham and local suppressed ham, Elena reveals the research behind the names of the wines that she wanted to focus on somewhat obsolete words just like garrulo, which means festive , lively, cheerful. The color of the wine instead refers to the summer sunsets on the Euganean Hills. And we trust you!

The Monte Ricco rosé takes its definition from the Pinot Noir vineyards cultivated on the slopes of the homonymous mountain on the border between Arquà Petrarca and Monselice which, growing on these clayey soils, produce grapes with characteristic aromas and high acidity. Pianoro also owes its name to the locality on Monte Mottolone where the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards are located, which form this red in the proportions of 40% and 60%. It is a concentrated and tannic wine that needs aging for long periods in tonneau and two years in bottle.

Altavia, on the other hand, is the circle that goes around the Euganean Hills and is also the name of an exuberant and very fragrant wine that releases a broad, deep and persistent taste in the mouth to which the full-bodied tannins give a pleasant velvety structure.
One of the two crus of Terra Felice is Pinot Noir aged in oak tonneau. This wine, together with Cabernet, is the standard bearer of the winery. But it is Cabernet, which Elena defines as a wine of patience that is produced only in the best vintages such as those of 2012 and 2015, the highest expression of the Terra Felice winery. And it is with this wine with an elegant and refined taste that Terra Felice has been awarded in the international Mundus Vini competition among thousands of wines from all over the world.

The qualified international jury of the award, held twice a year in February and August, made up of oenologists, winemakers, sommeliers and journalists from the sector, awarded with the gold medal the 2015 Cabernet, a unique red, from garnet reflections and hints of spices, coffee, tobacco, but also aromatic herbs, berries and jam, which it acquires after a long aging in oak tonneau.

And then Vaio on the roof, a real surprise! We have never seen a wine aged on the roof of the cellar. The technique, taken from that of a monk of the 1400s, provides that the Prosecco bottles are left to mature for one year on the tiles. A real bet – Elena tells us – that Terra Felice has been trying for three years on 300 numbered bottles of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon in equal percentage.
Now we are really curious to taste this experiment that has its origins in such a remote time.