About us
Cantina Frentana is a cooperative company made up by 400 winegrowers, mainly small family companies, who cultivate about 1000 hectares of vineyards on the Frentana hills: a strip of territory that extends between the last slopes of the Majella mountain and the magnificent Costa dei Trabocchi, in the south of Abruzzo.
A land of vineyards and olive groves, crossed by creeks flowing between wooded valleys.
The generous limestone soil, the gentle alternation of sea and land breezes, the mitigating action of the sea enhance the vocation of this area to a high-quality viticulture, focused almost entirely on native vines. A vocation listened and welcomed by expert winegrowers, aware that the quality of the wine depends above all on the quality of the fruit.
A new lighthouse shines on the Frentani vineyards
History
Cantina Frentana was founded as a winemaking cooperative in 1958 by a group of “pioneer” winegrowers led by the mayor Francesco D’Agostino, while the first harvest took place in 1960.
Since then, the company has continuously grown in size, number of members and turnover, going through both favorable and difficult moments, but always with the determination to accomplish its mission, becoming one of the most important cooperatives in southern-central Italy.
values
Solidarity
Cantina Frentana has conquered and strengthened its presence on the national and international market over time without ever failing in its original mission: the enhancement of the territory and the work of winegrowers through the making of a solidarity economy. Like many cooperatives, Frentana was born over 60 years ago to help the farmers getting free from an unbalanced grape market, in which buyers, taking advantage of the perishable nature of the grapes, imposed humiliating prices. The courage to overcome the traditional individualism of farmers has paid off. What does a solidarity economy mean in concrete terms? We could better explain it with some examples: each shareholder has one vote in the assembly regardless of his size; the profits are partly reinvested and partly returned to the shareholders as a bonus on the value of the grapes provided; the elderly shareholders who do not have family continuity can give the cooperative the land to be worked, without losing the property on them (Vineyard Bank); members who have financial difficulties can access a social loan at advantageous conditions.
Quality
Agronomic technical assistance in the vineyards, science and technology in the winery, focus on the sustainability of all processes, and the importance of the time factor, to offer wines on the market, which must not disappoint expectations. Quality is not an option; it is a must for a modern winery. But the quality of the process, the quality of the relationships between people and with customers, aren’t less important for us, than the quality of the product.
Territory and native vines
The conservation and enhancement of a territory so rich in history and natural beauty, the development of sustainable and quality tourism in it, are part of the company’s mission. Our farmers, in the wake of tradition, cultivate almost exclusively native vines: Montepulciano, Trebbiano, Pecorino, Passerina, Cococciola (a white grape variety of great potential, widespread only in the Frentana area, Cantina Frentana being the main producer).
Sustainability
A growing line dedicated to organic farming, a broad adhesion to the National Integrated Production Quality System, a system of climatic stations to optimize the protection from parasites, a total use of renewable energy sources in the cellar, these are some of the cornerstones of our sustainable development path.