Soave DOC Classico “Contrada Salvarenza” 2022

This wine comes from the Contrada Salvarenza, a small sub-plot within the La Frosca cru on the basalt hills of Monteforte d’Alpone in the Soave Classico zone of the Veneto. The vines are Garganega, over 100 years old, with some ungrafted, prephylloxera plants, growing in volcanic soils of basalt and tuff at around 150 metres above sea level with a south-east orientation. Grapes are hand-harvested, gently pressed, and fermented with ambient yeasts at low temperatures; the must is not treated with added sulfites prior to fermentation, a practice Sandro Gini pioneered in Italy in 1985. The wine is aged partly in 228-litre oak barrels, with malolactic fermentation and lees contact for approximately nine months, followed by further aging in stainless steel and six months in bottle before release. The 2021 vintage shows a deep golden colour, with notable mineral tension, fresh acidity, and the concentration typical of old-vine Garganega from this site.