Eleva Winery in Sant’Ambrogio in Valpolicella, Veneto, is owned by Prof. Davide Gaeta and enologist Raffaella Veroli. I got to know Prof. Davide Gaeta a couple of years ago thanks to a fellow wine writer. I was collaborating with the Barrel Hunter Club in Canada and looking for a smaller organic winery in Valpolicella with an interesting story and, of course, premium wines. Eleva Winery turned out to be what I was looking for. Davide and Raffaella, and their winery story, embrace history, inclusion, local culture and territory, innovation, and sustainability.
My former articles about the Eleva Winery in Veneto
I have written a couple of articles about the Eleva winery, both of which focus mainly on their Oseleta wine, Cercastelle IGT Veronese. One was Oseleta Can Bring a New Perspective to the Wine Narrative after a tasting at Elevaå winery organised in the autumn of 2024.
The article was discovered by Suchetana Choudhury Goswami, the Deputy Executive Editor of two B2B agricultural-sector magazines in India, namely Agrospectrum Asia and Agrospectrum India. She asked me a series of questions spanning Veneto, the Oseleta grape, the soul and future of Italian wine. This resulted in the article below being published also in Agrospectrum India:
In December 2025. Davide Gaeta was a guest at the All That Wine/The WinesOfItaly Show, which I co-hosted with Susannah Gold. We got to know more about Davide, Raffaella, and the Eleva winery, and why Valpolicella in Veneto is so fascinating.
Show Notes of The WinesOfItaly Show with guest Davide Gaeta
This conversation with Prof. Davide Gaeta is, at its core, a story about how wine begins far beyond the vineyard.
Eleva is not the result of a family inheritance or a generational winery. It starts instead with an encounter. Davide, a university professor, meets Raffaela as a student. Through her, he meets her husband, Alessandro, a heart surgeon. What follows is not a business decision, but a turning point.
A foundation dedicated to treating children with heart disease inherits a neglected estate in Valpolicella. Davide is asked to evaluate it. What he finds is not a functioning winery, but a hidden potential: terraces, ancient dry-stone walls, exposure, and a place that speaks of history and possibility.
The foundation cannot manage it. Davide cannot afford it alone. And yet, together, they decide to take the risk. Not as investors, but as people willing to build something meaningful.
With that decision, Eleva is born. But the story does not stop in Valpolicella.
The purchase of the estate becomes directly connected to something much larger: the creation of a hospital in Cameroon. A place dedicated to children with heart disease, built in an area where access to care is almost non-existent. Wine here becomes part of a wider system of responsibility. Not in a marketing sense, but in a real, tangible way. Thousands of children have been treated through this project.
This dual identity—wine and humanity—defines Eleva.
The winery is located in Sant’Ambrogio di Valpolicella, in the historical heart of Valpolicella Classica. This is not just a geographical detail, but a cultural one. The area is part of the original zone described since Roman times, where the conditions for appassimento already existed: loose grape clusters, limestone-rich soils, and ventilation from Lake Garda.
The vineyards are structured into terraces, each dedicated to a specific variety, harvested at different times, and blended later. This approach allows precision, but also reflects a broader idea: diversity as a resource.
The winery itself mirrors this philosophy. Built inside a former marble underground quarry, it is invisible from the outside. A choice that respects the landscape and reinforces the idea of wine as something that belongs to a place, not imposed on it.
Even the name Eleva carries meaning. It comes from the French “élevage,” the process of ageing wine. Time is not a constraint here, but a deliberate choice. Wines are aged longer than required, often double the standard, because they are seen as evolving, not simply produced.
Davide’s academic background plays a crucial role in shaping this vision. As a professor of wine management at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Verona, he brings a structured, reflective approach. Research, collaboration with students, and openness to experimentation are central. At the same time, there is a constant reminder of humility, wine as something you never fully master.
This is also visible in the wines themselves.
Each wine has a name that reflects a story, a moment, or an idea. “Fra Libri,” the Valpolicella, speaks of a life spent among books. “Tenzone,” the Ripasso, reflects years of internal debate before its release. “Cercastelle,” born from the meeting of Merlot and Oseleta, represents the search for balance, “looking for the stars.” Even the Amarone “Piovesole” carries a literary reference, inspired by Cesare Pavese and the image of sun and rain together—a moment of transformation.
At Eleva, wine is never just a product. It is a way to connect disciplines: academia, viticulture, ethics, and storytelling. A project where terroir is inseparable from people, and where meaning is built layer by layer.
Highlights from the Livestream
02:30 – Introduction to Davide Gaeta and the origin of Eleva
07:45 – How Davide met Raffaela and the decision to buy the estate
14:00 – The connection between Eleva and the hospital project in Cameroon
21:10 – Location in Sant’Ambrogio and the historical terroir of Valpolicella Classica
30:15 – The structure of the vineyards: terraces, varieties, and blending approach
38:40 – The underground winery and the concept behind Eleva (“élevage”)
46:50 – Naming the wines: Fra Libri, Tenzone, Cercastelle, Piove Sole
55:10 – Davide’s role as a professor and the importance of research and humility
