The name says it all: “Tinazzi”, was the name given to containers similar to barrels where the crushed grapes were put to ferment in the old Veronese winemaking tradition. So this is a family linked to wine even in the origin of its name.
The current Tinazzi winemaking enterprise began in the late 1960s in Cavaion Veronese, on the shores of Lake Garda, thanks to the commitment and passion of Eugenio Tinazzi.
Gian Andrea Tinazzi, the founder’s son, took over from his father at the age of eighteen and has steadily broadened the company’s horizons in terms of both production and markets.
Over the years, the family business has changed and grown: it used to sell DOC wines from the Veneto region to local clients only; now it’s a much bigger Group, spread between Veneto and Puglia and exporting on the international market.
But it’s still a family affair. Gian Andrea Tinazzi is assisted by his children: Giorgio takes care of the entire sales and export area, and Francesca coordinates planning and management control, as well as the development of the marketing and communications office.
With over 100 hectares of its own vineyards and a wide range of initiatives linked to rural culture and hospitality, Tinazzi is a recognised producer of high quality wines, sold in 55 countries worldwide.
Feudo Croce
In 2001, during a visit to Puglia, Gian Andrea Tinazzi realised the potential of the local indigenous grape varieties, mainly Primitivo, Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera. A few months later, the family decided to invest in this new region and bought a property of about 20 hectares in the Alto Salento, where the current Masseria Feudo Croce was built a few years later.
Feudo Croce, takes its name from the Menhir or Pietrafitta (standing stone) of “La Croce”, which was found near the estate in Carosino, a Città del Vino (City of Wine) in the province of Taranto. The stone is an ancient megalithic monument – possibly dating back to the Bronze Age – which in Roman times was used as a waymark by traders. The Pietrafitta della Croce, which at 4 metres high is one of the highest extant examples, marked the crossroads between important historic trading routes: La Salentina, the Limitone dei Greci and the Appian Way.
Like the Menhir that is its namesake, Feudo Croce aims to be a reference point for the area and a crossroads for international markets. In fact, Feudo Croce remains strongly linked to local traditions and products but from here it takes its products overseas, exporting them to over 30 countries worldwide.
Tinazzi’s Feudo Croce line of wines is dedicated to the territory of Manduria and Salento. The wines are made with traditional cultivation methods, such as the typical alberello bush-vine system and are full of fruit and body on the nose and the palate.
Imperio LXXIV
The top wine in the Feudo Croce range is the Primitivo di Manduria DOP Imperio LXXIV, where the Roman numeral celebrates the foundation year for DOC Primitivo di Manduria: 1974.
Imperio LXXIV is one of Tinazzi’s regular prize-winners, and Decanter World Wine Awards 2021 was true to form, giving the 2019 vintage a Gold Medal.
The 2019 is a smooth, full-bodied wine. Its winning characteristics are the complex aromas of ripe red fruit, spices and chocolate, combining the tradition of ancient vineyards and the warmth of a region of great charm like Puglia in the glass.
All in all, the Tinazzi family’s love for Puglia is constantly reciprocated: year after year the vineyards give us wines that are more and more evocative and captivating.
Hospitality
A quality welcome is the first step towards enabling visitors to appreciate wine. This is why the Tinazzi family has created the Tinazzi Italian Experience, an all-round wine tourism experience with the aim of bringing wine lovers from all over the world and of all ages closer to the life of the winery, its spaces and the people who live there, and to giving them memories of a unique visit.
In addition to the wines, wine tourists can discover the pleasures of food and cooking, friendship and conviviality, the life of the vineyard and the relationship with the seasons.
Visitors to Masseria Feudo Santa Croce can also discover the estate’s small botanical garden of aromatic plants, as well as visiting the vineyards and the photographic museum that illustrates the wine production process.
The Feudo Croce range
Discover more: www.tinazzi.it
