In 1256, Gualfredino da Col San Martino gave the Dominican Friars of Treviso the best land he owned for the production of fine wines. The abbey has long since been forgotten, but the steep slopes remain, and the name endures. Riva dei Frati, founded in 1988 by Cesare Adami and Marisa Merotto, recalls that ancient place nestled among steep riverbanks and vineyards, where viticulture has been a centuries-old tradition. The dream was simple: to bring new life to a beautiful corner of the Valdobbiadene hills.
The Adami Merotto family personally oversees every stage of production, supported by a close-knit, skilled and passionate team. They believe in careful, conscientious work, in quality that comes from respect for the land, and in the beauty of making wine as an everyday act of love. The winemaking tradition has distinguished the family since the early 1900s, a passion intertwined with the centuries-old history of a unique place where the origins of the company are rooted.
What the family loves most is the intimate relationship that renews itself each season, a subtle, profound dialogue with the earth and the vine, inviting an interpretation built on both delicacy and precision. The vineyards, laid across steep slopes between 200 and 350 metres above sea level, require constant presence and attentive hands capable of reading nature’s quietest signs. They tend to ancient vines with devotion, witnesses to a precious winemaking heritage, and carry forward a passion passed down through generations, a calling that guides every gesture.
In the cellar, the task is to accompany the grapes with respect, without forcing them, through slow fermentations and gentle pressings that preserve the essence of terroir. The truest pleasure comes in seeing, year after year, how wine can tell its story with clarity and grace, conveying deep and lasting emotion.
Riva dei Frati is born from the meticulous care of a land where the vine finds its true voice only on the steepest slopes and in the most challenging microclimates, hallmarks of the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G. region. The family cultivates exclusively on steep hillside plots where every task must be done by hand, not as a stylistic choice but as a necessity. Every grape cluster is hand-harvested, carefully selected and brought to the cellar where vinification follows a rigorous yet gentle path. They don’t chase instant impact but rather expressive purity, a reflection of both the land’s authentic nature and their vision: a Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G. that is elegant, dry, linear and precise, able to accompany and surprise without ever losing its identity.
