Gregoletto

A rare example of still Prosecco vinified from grapes coming from the highest and sunniest sites of our vineyards in the hills

The Gregoletto family bottles this frizzante rendition of Veneto’s indigenous variety, Verdiso, with the secondary fermentation occurring in-bottle and left unfiltered.

This crisp, zesty white wine from the Veneto is made from Manzoni Bianco, a variety bred by Luigi Manzoni in the 1920-30s. Buy this to add a dose of stimulating diversity to your rotation of chiseled white wines that serve equally well as an apéritif as they do alongside shellfish or a piece of grilled chicken.

Because of its tendency to ripen later than the region’s other white grapes, Verdiso was almost lost to history in the mid-twentieth century. That would have been a shame, because it makes a unique and refreshing wine. The 2021 has a sweet nose with summery whiffs of peach and apricot, a silky mid-palate, and a lovely citrus and mineral finish.

The Gregoletto family, who makes this Prosecco, has been tending vines in the hills of Premaor di Miane, near Valdobbiadene, since around 1600. They ferment this wine in stainless-steel tanks, bottle it with a little grape must, and allow it to undergo a secondary fermentation in the bottle without disgorging the wine. Even though this technique is traditional, the difficulty of simultaneously following it and making excellent wine means it is avoided by most Prosecco producers today! Gregoletto’s result is a crisp, vibrant, fully dry sparkling wine with notes of fresh apples, lime, and stones.

Unlike the opulent, cassis-scented Merlots from Bordeaux’s Right Bank, this rendition—with its pretty notes of brambly wild berries and earthy hints of spice—shows a more ethereal, mineral side of the grape. It is refreshing to experience such a different profile of Merlot, reflecting the Veneto’s temperate climate and the vines’ prized position on steep hillsides that see chilling Alpine breezes and important diurnal shifts.