Casale del Giglio was founded in 1967 by Dr. Berardino Santarelli, a native of the Appenine hill town of Amatrice.
The estate lies between the towns of Aprilia and Latina in the Agro Pontino valley, some 50 kms. south of Rome. Unlike other parts of the Latium region, or other regions of Italy, this territory was still uncharted in viticultural terms when Berardino Santarelli and his son Antonio launched their research project in 1985.
Endorsed by the Agricultural Department of Latium’s Regional Government, the project involved researchers of international standing, many of whom still contribute to Casale del Giglio’s research today; Prof. Attilio Scienza from Milan University’s ‘Istituto di Coltivazioni Arboree’, Prof. Angelo Costacurta from the ‘Istituto Sperimentale per la Viticoltura di Conegliano’ (Treviso) and Prof. Fulvio Mattivi from the Research & Innovation Centre at the ‘Fondazione Edmund Mach’ – ‘Istituto Agrario Provinciale San Michele all’Adige’ (Trento) – where Casale del Giglio’s winemaker, Paolo Tiefenthaler, was trained.
As a child and young teenager the fields and lanes of the family estate, Casale del Giglio, were nothing more to Antonio Santarelli than a place where he could spend carefree weekends and indulge his budding passion for motorbike riding; but all that changed when he joined his father Dino in the family business. By then, a shrewd twenty-five year old, he knew instinctively that their unconventional land in the Agro Pontino valley, some 50 kms south of Rome, offered a unique opportunity to attempt something no-one had ever attempted before.
The total lack of any vine growing tradition in the area meant that Antonio and his father could give free rein to their pioneering ideas. Some of the most famous ampelographers and university researchers of the day were convinced by these ideas and were inspired to join them in a research project which was launched in 1985 with the planting of close to 60 different experimental
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