Grape growing in the territory begins its story begins in the times dell' Roman Empire, when the first agricultural appropriations settled in the area of ​​ Tezze di Piave encouraged by the presence of the Piave river, whose basin was larger in that period than today. The river also create a net of small rivers which was (and it is) very useful for agriculture. There was then the period of the barbarian invasions that brought the area to become substantially uninhabited since insecure, the merchants themselves had difficulty crossing the area. After Roman Empire the Venice Republic born and in 1400 it gave the possibility to its noble families to invest not only in the sea but also to the hinterland; thanks to this several noble families began to create estates in the area of Tezze di Piave, including family Malanotte, who founded the village next to the area where it will be built then the Social Winery Tezze di Piave. This village was used as a real "medieval service station"; merchants and travelers from Venice proceeded to the hinterland was using a road that passed right to Borgo Malanotte where there was a site for horse changing and refreshment of travelers. This was due to the fact that the only safe route connecting Venice to the hinterland passed right to Borgo Malanotte which was also sustained by various forms of farming and agriculture, including the production of grapes and wine, aims, however, only to self-reliance in principle and then to small local businesses.

 

The outset
The first establishment of the Social Winery Tezze di Piave (1948)
"Raboso tardivo"
"Vendemmia" (grape harvest) of "Raboso tardivo" (22 november 1962)
"L´ alberata" (Fig. 1/2)
Growing system used for the grapewines before the introduction of the Bellussera method (from A. Vianello and A. Carpené, 1874)
"L´ alberata" (Fig. 2/2)
Growing system used for the grapewines before the introduction of the Bellussera method (from A. Vianello and A. Carpené, 1874)
Building of the winery
Building of several 1700 hectoliter tanks

 

The wine produced in this area was still an important resource for the Venetian Republic; it was useful during the preparation of provisions for long vessel journeys to bring over a certain amount of drinking water also a fair amount of wine. Despite not having knowledge of microbiology fact boaters they had noticed as drinking water mixed with wine helped sailors to resist various forms of food poisoning; today we know that this was due to the bacteriostatic effect of the small amount of alcohol inside the wine but that was sufficient to inhibit the bacteria contained in the water, especially when it was already stored in the hold for some time. The culture of the grapevine keep working till the `800, when an phylloxera epidemic destroyed most of the grapevine in the area.

 

Building of the Social Winery
Photo of the almost completed Social Winery
Old register
Register of the winery for the year 1935
The Phylloxera
An illustration of the dangerous grapevines parasite (from a drawning of 1876)
Vintage label
A label used in commercials during the first years of the Social Winery

 

The recovery began at the beginning of the next century: mainly through integrated introduction of the method of cultivation Bellussera also called ray system; however, this news could not develop immediatly because of the arrival of the First World War which in 1917 primarily transformed the area of ​​Tezze di Piave for a year in the first line and so in a battlefield. After the war there was for about a year the land reclamation, massacred by the conflict and in 1921 the family Roveda received back their lands; they reintroduced the ray system Bellussera for the cultivation of grapewine Raboso del Piave. This historic vineyard is still maintained through the efforts of the Social Winery Tezze di Piave safeguard and it as a real piece of local history. Nowaday's from this vineyard is obtained a particular type of wine Raboso, 1921 Raboso del Piave DOC.