Benazzoli ‘Tecla’ Bardolino Chiaretto 2020

For four generations the Benazzoli family grew grapes and made wine, selling it off to other local wineries who would bottle and sell independently. That all changed in 2009 when sisters Claudia and Giulia, who had trained under their father and grandfather, decided to bottle a small selection of wine themselves and sell it locally under the Benazzoli family label. In the first year they bottled around 2,000 bottles; 10 years later they are bottling 50,000 bottles per year, selling through a select number of international distributors in addition to their own cellar door and some local restaurants.

With the azienda located just a few km from the shore of Lake Garda, vineyards are located in the Bardolino, Chiaretto and Valpolicella DOCs, with the sisters now producing white, rosé and red wines including Ripasso and Amarone, and an ominously named signature spumante, Femme Fatale.

Justifiably proud of their achievements to date, the labels feature striking feminine imagery and characters, reflecting the feminine influence on the wines. "I am the winemaker and Giulia the agronomist", says Claudia. "We really love our jobs and our motto is 'Our wines are not made for women only, but they are made by women'".