Corte Gardoni Custoza Greoto 2021

Gianni Piccoli was a master of the wines of Custoza and Bardolino. For fifty years, he set the standard for this picturesque corner of Veneto, just south of Lake Garda’s southern shore. He took his grapes away from the local cooperative in 1980 to make his own wine his own way, to better capture the particular terroir of a region which has often struggled to define itself as anything but “not Soave.” Since then, Corte Gardoni has been a leading estate for Custoza, instrumental in defining the character of wines here: bright, nutty and floral, with a perceptible current of earth at the heart of each wine. 2021 is the first vintage made entirely by Gianni Piccoli’s children, and we tend to think the estate is in good hands. The blend begins with Garganega, the most prized white grape of the Veneto, but about 60% of the wine is made from a blend of Trebbiano, Trebbianello, Cortese, and Manzoni Bianco, varieties native and largely limited to the region. On the nose: pear compote, red apple