Nevio Scala

Nevio Scala was a midfielder for Fiorentina and AC Milan, and later won a European Cup as coach of Parma.
After stints in Dortmund, St. Petersburg, and Moscow, he traded the football pitches of the world for the grain fields and olive groves of Lozzo Atestino — the village in the Colli Euganei where he grew up and where his father once farmed land as a tenant. Nevio has since bought the old family farm and added a few hectares of forest and vineyards, where he now produces brilliant white and sparkling wines together with his son Claudio.

Football fans may have to dig a little into their memory banks, but the name should eventually trigger some recognition — perhaps a faded image, blurred with time. Scala, they might say, was a talented player, a midfield engine for Fiorentina, Milan, and Foggia back when Foggia was still in Serie A. But he really made his name as a coach — especially with AC Parma, whom he led to Serie A in the golden age of Italian football and with whom he won the Italian Cup, the UEFA Cup, and the Cup Winners' Cup. Later, he managed Borussia Dortmund, Zenit St. Petersburg, and Spartak Moscow. And after that? Well, most people wouldn’t know.

But we do.

FARMER & WINEMAKER
He became a farmer.
He left behind the football stadiums and returned to the fields and groves of his hometown, Lozzo Atestino — where his father had once farmed rented land. Nevio bought that land, added a few more hectares of forest and vineyards, and began again — not as a retired celebrity dabbling in agriculture, but as someone fully committed to working the land.

Together with his family, he developed an ecological and socially sustainable concept, placing the respectful and responsible use of natural and human resources at the center of his efforts. The Scala family now works with ancient grains and legumes (spelt, wheat, barley, rapeseed, peas, hemp, and beans), reforests cleared land, produces excellent olive oil from varieties like Marzemina, Leccino, Rasara, Frantoio, and Moraiolo, and has even created wetland biotopes to offer habitat to increasingly threatened wildlife.

Winemaking is just one aspect of the Scala family’s work — but one that has become increasingly important. Much of that is thanks to Nevio’s son Claudio, who lectures in education at the University of Bolzano three days a week and spends the rest of his time in the vineyards at the foot of the Euganean Hills.

A LAND OF VOLCANIC ORIGINS
The Colli Euganei are one of Italy’s oldest wine regions. The terroir, with its volcanic and limestone-rich soils, feels more Mediterranean than the rest of the Veneto, forming a kind of bridge between Northern and Southern Italy. It is ideal terrain for Garganega, the most exciting white variety of the Euganean Hills and, at 3.4 hectares under vine, the most important grape at the Scala estate.

Since 2016, Claudio & Nevio have been producing five wines from Garganega:

• Dilètto, a subtle, deep white

• Gargante, a vibrant frizzante that, in its first year alone, raised the bar for sparkling wines in the region

• and Còntame, a skin-fermented version

They’ve recently added a red wine made from Merlot and Cabernet Franc, as well as a skin-fermented entry-level white from Malvasia Istriana.

One more vineyard, still waiting for its debut vintage, is planted with the truly local varieties of the region: Turchetta, Recantina, Pataresca, and Corbinona — all rare, indigenous grapes with a long-forgotten heritage.