Andrea, Gianni, and Mattia Piccoli
The late, Gianni Piccoli was as stubborn as he was modest and self-effacing, with no interest in following the easy paths to guaranteed market share if they mean compromising his principles. He and his sons Mattia, Andrea, and Stefano simply made the best wine in Bardolino. Which is how they find the best customers.
Corte Gardoni was established in 1980, when Gianni decided that his beautiful grapes–carefully farmed at low yields on the stony slopes of the moraine in Valeggio sul Mincio–would no longer be sold in bulk, to be blended anonymously in the vats of industrial wineries like Bolla and Folonari that still dominate Bardolino. Building a winery was a risky undertaking in a region that had such little prestige, but Gianni Piccoli never looked back.
Today, under the direction of his son Mattia, Corte Gardoni supplies the finest Bardolino and Custoza to nearly every Michelin starred restaurant in Italy.
