The Wine: Soave DOC 2017

Garganuda Soave Vulcano is a white wine from Veneto, Northeastern Italy, made from Veneto region native grape varietal Garganega (100%) by winemaker Giovanni Menti. The Grapes are farmed organically and grown on volcanic soils. Unfined and unfiltered (vegan wine), Garganuda Soave DOC is aged in stainless steel.

The Winery: Garganuda (Giovanni Menti)

Garganuda was founded at the end of the 19th century, by the Menti family in Gambellara, Veneto regino, Northeastern Italy. Nowadays the estate is managed by Giovanni Menti and his son Stefano. At Garganuda, the vineyards are farmed organically using biodynamic methods. The winemaking approach in the cellar is low intervention, using only native yeasts, avoiding chemicals and filtration.

The Region: Veneto

Veneto is one of the most important wine regions of Italy, located in the North Eastern corner of the Italian peninsula. It borders with Trentino-Alto Adige (north), Friuli-Venezia Giulia (north-east), Emilia-Romagna (south), and Lombardy (west).

The capital of Veneto is Venice, which is also its most populous city, followed by Verona, Padua, Vicenza, Treviso, and Rovigo. The east coast of Lake Garda, the biggest Italian lake, is part of Veneto and so is the tract of Alpine foothills called Venetian Prealps.

Veneto is the leading Italian region for the quantity of wine produced – even though wine-producing regions such as Piedmont, Tuscany, Lombardy, Puglia, and Sicily all have bigger territories.

Some of its most famous wines are Amarone della Valpolicella, Valpolicella, Soave, and of course Prosecco. Other less known but equally delicious wines are Recioto della Valpolicella, Recioto di Gambellara, Raboso del Piave, and Bardolino.

Veneto’s main characteristic is perhaps the great variety of wine types produced, obtained mostly from indigenous grape varietals – Corvina, Glera, and Garganega being the most common.

This is due as much to its specific geography and climate as it is to rather peculiar winemaking techniques such as the grape drying technique employed to make Amarone della Valpolicella, Veneto’s most famous red wine.