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Monte del Frà, or the land of the monks, earned its name in the late 15th century when the estate was founded as a monastery by friars from Santa Maria Della Scala.
The friars grew their food to live off the land in perpetuity and made wine. Two centuries later, in 1958, Massimo Bonomo rented two rooms and the adjacent fields. His family opened a Frasca, a typical Venetian bulk wine shop. They made wine and grew peaches, strawberries, and wheat.
In 1988, MassMassimo'ss, Eligio and Claudio decided to take their father's business in another direction. They converted all family lands into vineyards and established the Monte del Frà wine estate. After years of hard work, the family would add new DOC-classified territories: Valpolicella, Custoza, Lugana, Soave, and Bardolino to the mix, which today owns and farms 137 hectares and works another rented 68 hectares.
Now 65 years on, the Bonomo family is still managing Monte del Frà, and Eligio and Claudio have been joined by the third generation: Marica, Silvia, and Massimo. Each has brought new talents and another set of eyes to the business, all with the noble pursuit of moving toward a sustainable agriculture mandate as fast as possible.
The property borders the pre-Alps in the northern Veneto region and Lake Garda to the West on the hills near Sommacampagna, between Custoza and Staffalo. As beautiful as the setting is, its physical aspects play an essential role in the quality of the family wines. The mountains mitigate the coldest weather heading from Northern Europe, while Lake Garda helps protect vines from cold winters and hot summers. Most importantly, the glaciers of yore left behind a series of mountainous hills whose soils and stones supercharge the white wines. We caught up with Marica Bonomo at the Vancouver International Wine Festival, where she gave us a short masterclass and a bit of history about Monte del Frà, a Veneto jewel.
