From tradition to modernity
Winemakers since 1945
The hills that give life to Marco Capra's wines, in a wonderful combination of nature and human labor, are those of the Langa, Roero and Monferrato, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. The company is located in Santo Stefano Belbo, the birthplace of Cesare Pavese, an important Italian writer, poet, translator and literary critic.
But let's take a step back...
We’re in 1945 and Tommaso Capra, nicknamed ''Tumasin'', established the family business between the Langhe and Monferrato, on the Seirole hill in Santo Stefano Belbo. Luciano, his son, was then influenced by his father’s wine culture, which until the late 1980s had directed the company towards the wholesale of quality wines, using traditional demijohns. When Marco Capra got behind the helm of the business in 1999, he decided to carry on the tradition handed down by previous generations, all the while trying to project it from a more modern perspective and replacing the Azienda Agricola Sanmarco’s brand with his name on the label in 2014. With his commitment, the business began to grow thanks to wines obtained by highlighting the local grape varieties, wines that can reflect the specific characteristics of their birth territory. The business operates like a true atelier: every detail is meticulously taken care of along the entire supply chain and the result knows how to leave its mark.
Between Langhe, Roero, and Monferrato
The first goal of Azienda Agricola Marco Capra is the quality of the work in the vineyard: the earth must be cultivated with great technique and by artfully listening to Nature. The unique geological conformation of the soil and the region’s microclimate promote the perfect ripening of the grapes and the typical organoleptic properties of every wine. Part of the company estate is located in areas with slopes equal to or greater than 40 percent, giving rise to agriculture that completely detaches itself from mechanization: these are the Sorì Eroici.
Our vines are Moscato, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Barbera, Nebbiolo, Nascetta, Dolcetto, grapes that give life to tailor-made, unique, and unparalleled products, bringing out real and intense emotions. Seitremenda and Testanvisca are the two key wines of the company: an Alta Langa and a Nebbiolo d'Alba, dedicated to Marco's children.
The vine is treated with agronomic techniques that allow us to keep production low, respect the land, and guarantee the utmost quality of the final product. The start of each harvest is determined by the degree of ripeness of the grapes, their sugar and acidity content, and their evolution over time, based on atmospheric conditions. The grape harvest, taking place in different months depending on the specific grape variety, is carried out entirely by hand, under the watchful eye of agronomist Roberto Abate, who takes care of all the operations in the vineyard.
An extended family
An agricultural business consists of people, and Marco Capra has chosen a qualified, young, and dynamic team. It's a tight-knit group, one that cares deeply about ancient traditions, while looking to the future and knowing how to open up to innovation and new technologies. The company's goal is to create a fruitful interchange: on the one hand, the most qualified people, who have been working in the cellar and vineyard for years, can transfer their knowledge to younger people, who, in turn, can make a significant contribution with their more modern vision, in a continuous interweaving of tradition and innovation.
Between vineyard, sustainability, and future
"Diamo vita al vino come gli artisti creano un’opera d’arte.
We give voice to the raw materials, enhancing them with our expertise."
Wine is born in the vineyard, but it is man's job to try to transform the fruit of hard work in the vineyard to the best of his ability. Equipped with all modern technologies, the cellar nevertheless remains faithful to the most traditional processes of winemaking. Each and every detail is treated with the utmost care because to create a good product nothing must be overlooked. Marco Capra follows every step of the winemaking process, from the arrival of the grapes to fermentation, from maturation to bottling, and from aging to shipping. With the support of oenologists Daniela Serra and Dante Scaglione, Marco supervises all phases of production, guaranteeing the absolute quality of the final product.
There’s a special attention to sustainability, using lighter bottles than traditional ones, which leads not only to the optimization of transport, but also to lower CO2 emissions and greater energy savings. In addition, the practice of phytopurification is adopted, which recovers the water from the cellar, purifying them in a natural way, to reuse them in the treatment of the vineyard, in which, finally, the commonly used defence operations have been redesigned to have a low environmental impact.
