From the atlas
Collis Heritage
At A Glance
Producer: Collis Heritage Region: Veneto, Italy Type: Cooperative commercial wine house Headquarters: Villa Maria, Negrar, Valpolicella Founded: 2023 (merger); cooperative origins 1950s Scale: 40 million bottles, €100 million turnover, 70 countries Appellations: Valpolicella, Soave, Prosecco DOC/DOCG, Vicenza, Padua Growers: 2,000+ Brands: Sartori di Verona, Riondo, Casalforte, Mont'Albano, I Saltari, Murari 1899
The Producer
Collis Heritage came into being in December 2023 as the commercial face of a cooperative that had been quietly consolidating Veneto wine for seven decades. The vehicle was a merger: Cantine Riondo, built around volume sparkling wine and Prosecco, joined forces with Casa Vinicola Sartori 1898, whose name and red-wine heritage had been rooted in Valpolicella since the nineteenth century. The result was a producer that went live with 40 million bottles, €100 million in turnover, and distribution reaching 70 countries.
The company is headquartered at Villa Maria in Negrar, a village in the Valpolicella zone west of Verona. Its parent is Collis Veneto Wine Group, a cooperative organization that traces its origins to the 1950s and was formally constituted as a group in 2008. More than 2,000 grower families contribute fruit. Six wineries and four bottling centres operate across the provinces of Verona, Vicenza, and Padua. Claudio Tamellini became president at formation; Pierluigi Guarise took the role of managing director.
Collis Heritage is a multi-brand, multi-appellation operation, not a single estate or village specialist. The Sartori family retained a 25% stake when the merger closed, keeping a direct ownership position inside the business that carries their name.
Place
Veneto is the most productive wine region in Italy by volume, and Collis Heritage operates across its full width. Vineyards run in an arc from Valpolicella in the west, where basalt and limestone hills above Verona support Corvina-based reds including Amarone and Ripasso, east to the Soave plateau, where volcanic and alluvial soils grow Garganega for dry white wines. The arc continues through Vicenza's wine zones and reaches the flat plains around Padua, where Glera vines supply Prosecco DOC.
That geographic spread determines the range. Valpolicella produces reds from Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella, with Amarone della Valpolicella at the top of the appellation pyramid and lighter Valpolicella DOC at the entry point. Ripasso, a style made by referementing Valpolicella wine over dried grape skins, sits between the two. Soave and Soave Classico are white wines built from Garganega, often with some Trebbiano di Soave. Prosecco, made from Glera, spans the DOC-level fizz of the plains and the hillside DOCG zones of Conegliano Valdobbiadene. Each appellation carries its own rules, grape requirements, and flavour profile. Collis Heritage sits across all of them.
Soil And Site
The cooperative's vineyard base spans multiple soil types because it spans multiple zones. Valpolicella's hillside parcels sit on volcanic basalt, clay, and limestone. The Soave plateau is built largely on volcanic rock with basalt and tuff, giving Garganega its characteristic mineral grip. The Paduan plains are alluvial, flat, and fertile, suited to Glera's productive habit. The 7,200-hectare estate described by the group after the 2025 merger incorporates differences in elevation, exposure, and microclimate that no single appellation could cover. Differences in soil between a Classico Soave hillside and a Prosecco DOC flatland are substantial enough to produce wines with entirely different textures and weights.
Story
Collis traces its cooperative roots to the 1950s, when wineries across the Veneto pooled resources rather than compete independently in fragmented post-war markets. That collective model was formalized into Collis Veneto Wine Group in 2008, and over the following fifteen years the group absorbed additional producers and growers.
The December 2023 merger that created Collis Heritage was a different kind of move. Rather than absorbing a smaller cooperative, Collis Veneto Wine Group brought in Casa Vinicola Sartori 1898, a privately held wine house with a continuous family history stretching back to the nineteenth century. The two companies had distinct identities: Riondo was built for volume sparkling wine, Sartori for Valpolicella reds with a long market history. Joining them inside a single commercial entity required a governance compromise. The Sartori family did not exit. They took a 25% stake in Collis Heritage and kept their name on the bottle.
A further merger in late 2025 expanded the wider Collis group to 2,450 member growers and 7,200 hectares, making it one of the largest cooperative wine operations in northeast Italy.
Vineyards And Cellar
Collis Heritage operates through its grower network rather than farming a single unified estate. Individual growers across Verona, Vicenza, and Padua manage their own parcels and deliver fruit to the group's six wineries. Agronomists, oenologists, and commercial teams work across the production chain. Integrated pest management and certified protocols govern vineyard work, with the stated aim of reducing chemical inputs and protecting soil health and biodiversity. Mont'Albano has held organic certification since 1985, predating the formation of both Collis Veneto Wine Group and Collis Heritage.
Because the packet does not confirm specific cellar methods per brand, it is accurate to say that Collis Heritage produces wine across the full range of Veneto styles, from Amarone, which requires extended drying of harvested grapes before fermentation and years of ageing, through to tank-fermented Prosecco. The techniques are appellation-driven rather than defined by a single house philosophy.
Wines
Collis Heritage operates through six brands, each with its own range and primary appellation territory. Sartori di Verona is the historic red-wine house, associated with Valpolicella, Ripasso, and Amarone. These wines are built from Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella grown on hillside parcels above Verona. Valpolicella DOC is a lighter red, typically fresh and cherry-fruited with moderate tannin. Ripasso, refermented over dried skins from the Amarone production, picks up additional body, dried-fruit character, and grip. Amarone della Valpolicella, made from grapes dried for several months before pressing, delivers concentrated dark fruit, substantial alcohol, and the firm tannin that comes from long skin contact and extended ageing.
Riondo covers Prosecco and volume sparkling wine, primarily from Glera grown in the DOC flatlands. Casalforte focuses on Prosecco and was identified as Sweden's best-selling Prosecco brand at the time of the merger. Prosecco in this range is typically pale, softly sparkling, with pear and white peach fruit and a low-acid finish suited to aperitivo drinking. Mont'Albano, organic since 1985, adds a certified-farming dimension to the portfolio. I Saltari and Murari 1899 complete the launch lineup, though bottle-level detail for these brands is not confirmed.
Soave and Soave Classico, built from Garganega grown on volcanic soils east of Verona, round out the geographic range with dry whites that carry a mineral, almond-edged character.
In The Glass
The range covers too wide a territory for a single tasting note. What changes from one end of the portfolio to the other is significant.
Valpolicella DOC from Sartori di Verona pours as a medium-bodied red, with cherry and dried herb on the nose, bright acidity, and soft tannin. Ripasso deepens that register: dried cherry, tobacco, and a slight resinous weight from the second fermentation over Amarone skins, with firmer tannin and more length. Amarone extends the scale further into concentrated dark plum, cocoa, and leather, with high alcohol and the grip of extended oak ageing; it needs time, either in bottle or against food with some fat.
Soave Classico from volcanic hillside Garganega shows differently: pale gold in the glass, with a stony, slightly bitter almond note alongside white stone fruit and firm acidity. It is a food wine more than a fruit-forward white.
Prosecco from Casalforte or Riondo sits at the opposite end of the register. Pale, lightly foamy, with Glera's characteristic pear and apple fruit, low tannin, gentle effervescence, and a soft finish without the acid cut of traditional-method sparkling wine.
A Bottle To Understand It
Sartori di Verona is a launch brand in the Collis Heritage portfolio. Amarone is the appellation's most demanding wine. Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella grapes are harvested and then dried for several months in ventilated lofts, concentrating sugar, tannin, and flavour before fermentation. The resulting wine is full-bodied, dark-fruited, and high in alcohol, with dried cherry, dark chocolate, leather, and a firm, drying tannin on the finish. It needs a substantial dish alongside it or several years of cellaring. It is not an everyday wine. Start here if you want to understand what Valpolicella can produce at full intensity, and why the Sartori name carried weight long before any merger.
Anecdote
When Collis Heritage launched in December 2023, the terms of the deal drew attention. Collis Veneto Wine Group took a 75% controlling stake, which is the standard shape of an acquisition. But the Sartori family, who had been making and selling wine under their name from Verona since 1898, did not sell the remaining quarter. They kept it. A family that had run a private wine house for 125 years entered the merger as a minority shareholder rather than as a vendor cashing out. Their name went onto the legal entity and onto the bottles. Casalforte, a Prosecco brand that had become Sweden's best-selling Prosecco, arrived in the same launch portfolio as the century-old Sartori di Verona label. Two very different Veneto businesses, one bottle lineup, one family still at the table with 25%.
Final Word
Collis Heritage is a large-scale cooperative commercial producer built across the full width of Veneto wine. It does not specialize. Its value is geographic breadth: a single organization covering Valpolicella reds, Soave whites, and Prosecco fizz, backed by more than 2,000 growers farming soil types that range from volcanic hillsides to alluvial plains. The Sartori family's decision to retain a 25% stake in the merged entity is a concrete feature of its ownership.
Sources
- https://www.collisgroup.it/en/
- https://www.vinitaly.com/en/magazine/collis-heritage-spa-is-born-from-the-merger-of-cantine-riondo-and-casa-vinicola-sartori-1898/
- https://www.vinetur.com/en/2025112593678/collis-veneto-merger-creates-italian-wine-giant-with-euro220-million-revenue-and-7200-hectares-of-vineyards.html