This village derives its name from the place name "Casa minore," or ca' mignon, an unmistakeable reference to medieval origin as a monastic settlement of lesser rank connected to the Cluniac abbey at Rodengo Saiano.
The gentle beauty of the countryside and the favourable climate began attracting to Franciacorta, already in the 15th century, noble families from Brescia who dug out cellars and built over them their summer villas, surrounded by modest agricultural operations.
In the early 17th century, Camignone already enjoyed a fine reputation for its high-quality wines, as we learn for example from the 1609 Brescia cadastral survey, during the period of the Venetian Republic, which notes for Camignone that "the soils are excellent and yield exceptional wines."
Viticulture continued, amidst plagues, wars, and other problems, until the late 19th century, when the European vineyards were destroyed by the phylloxera disease brought from eastern North America. It was only after World War II that grapegrowing flourished once more.
The weather, terrain, and soils that characterise Camignone can be grouped into three of the six land units that go to make up Franciacorta; descriptions of three of our vineyards will serve to elucidate the characteristics of the three units.
Ancient glacial deposits
Soils here are very deep, with abundant rock and pebble mixture, though not of limestone origin, and are well drained. These conditions are encountered in our Frusca, Dosso Nord, Dosso Sud, Tirų, Limbo, and Roccolino vineyards, which encourage early ripening of the grapes, good sugar levels, and an outstanding acidity-pH balance. They yield base wines of surprising delicacy and finesse, naturally balanced and well structured, with excellent long-term cellaring potential.
Recent morainic deposits
Soils here are riverine-glacial deposits, on very gentle or slightly undulating slopes, neutral and of a course, easily-permeable texture, with a pebbly-sandy substrate and good exchange capacity. Mosnel, Camilė, Larga Nord, and Larga Sud are the vineyards in this group, all characterised by medium vegetative vigour, and average bud fertility and cluster number and weight. Ripening is somewhat early, and both sugar and pH levels are good; while the base wines are rich and complex, with impressive length.
Intermediate morainic deposits
The Tesa, Giardino, Egitto, Travaino, and Brolo del Roccolo vineyards are planted in soils of glacial and riverine-glacial origin; they are fairly deep, of loamy sand with average to rich pebbly texture and good permeability. They boast a number of micro-terroirs; specific exposures and their capacity to retain scarce rainfall dramatically enhance the aromatic qualities of Pinot Noir and the mineral character of Chardonnay.