Creamy, lemon and grapefruit, salty, complex, delicious
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Manual grape harvest, soft pressing of whole grapes (without destemming). Fermentation in steel with indigenous yeasts and rest on the yeasts in steel for 7 to 8 months. Refermentation in the bottle with Garganega grape must. Lees contact, before disgorging, for at least 36 months.
Farming: Organic
Vegan
It was a breath of fresh air they sought when Cristiana and Riccardo forged a new path in life, moving away from the corporate world and back to Riccardo’s roots in the city of Ronca’. Soon his family’s garage become their teeny wine cellar and their neighbors abandoned hectare of vine came under their control. They also planted an hectare of Garganega nine years back down the hill from the cellar. In 2011 they began production focusing on Gargenega (which is the principle grape in Soave) and a forgetten varietal called Durella with which they made a sparkling wine.
They are another case where they learned on the fly, possessing all the energy and enthusiasm possible but not tangible experience managing a vineyard. But like so many others they learned from their mistakes and frankly began making quality wine from their first vintage. Soave is truly a region where these ageworthy whites are subject to the given vintage and I’ve noticed that upon tasting with them. But with each vintage you can see the growth they’ve made as winemakers and the direction they aim to take their winery.
The winery has had their ups and downs with the Soave Consorzio, who has no interest in helping the little guy, thus recently they have decided to label outside of the Soave designation. The dues paid to the Consorzio proved to much, so if you see Gargenega on the label instead of Soave now you know why.
Grapes: Durella, Garganega
Durella or Durello is a white Italian wine grape variety originating from the Veneto wine region of northeast Italy. Today it is sparsely cultivated, though some producers like to experiment with it since its high acid levels makes it suitable for sparkling wines. The white Veneto wine grape Bianchetta Trevigiana is believed to be the result of a natural crossing between Durella and the nearly extinct red wine grape Brambana.
Garganega is an important grape variety to Italy and is most known for wines from the Soave region. It makes wines with a lean, dry style with citrus and nutty notes. Total global plantings are around 38,000 acres with the overwhelming majority in Italy and a small amount in Argentina.
Country: Italy
Region: Veneto
From the winemaker: Our indigenous grape vineyards are placed in a little community of Roncà, Brenton, between the provinces of Verona and Vicenza: to the west we have the Garda Lake, to the east the warm Adriatic Sea, to the North the Lessini Mountains with their rich grazing lands, to the South the Po Valley sloping towards the Apennines. Once upon a time this was a land of Volcanoes and our vineyards benefit from the colorful richness that comes from ancient lava, schist, tuff which now are the backbone of our land.
Our oldest vineyard has 40 years and it is at 450 meters above sea level, in a wonderful spot South/South-West where it receives the warmest rays of summer sun and the gentle touch of fresh nights, so that the temperature leap guarantees an intense bouquet to our grapes of Durella and Garganega. A little lower we have another old vineyard of Durella, recumbent on a nice slope.Finally in Roncà, at 120 meters above the sea level, there is our youngest Garganega: we planted it ourselves and more than its companions, it deserves cares and attentions to reach full maturity.
All around biodiversity is preserved by natural woods, enclosing the parcels in a loving embrace, and green manure, that we adopt each year to guarantee to soil and grapes the right amount of nourishment and protection to face the intense wine-producing season. We don’t use any chemical or harmful substance: we don’t weed or use any treatment or fertilizer able to contaminate or spoil the precious balance between the soil and the vine. We use only grapes coming from these 3 parcels and we follow in person each vine, respectful of their peculiar needs. The grape harvest is manually operated at the proper moment for each parcel.
We are so proud and at the same time so grateful to our land and its history that we really aim to fully preserve the value of our grapes, so that we use only the indigenous yeast naturally present on the skin, we don’t remove stalks and we just control that the fermentation temperature stays at its best. Every step of the process has only one purpose: to distill the richness, the generosity, the history and the beauty of our hills in the glass of wine you are going to taste.
Tasting: creamy, lemon and grapefruit, salty, complex, delicious
Pairing: creamy sauces, pizza, cheeses