Cantina di Gambellara Monopolio Merlot 2024
£9.95
The wine
Bright ruby red, opening on an elegant and complex nose of ripe red berries.
Merlot has been grown in the Veneto since the nineteenth century and is thoroughly at home there, giving a softer, plummier wine than in Bordeaux and one made to be drunk young rather than cellared. The fruit comes from hillside sites rather than the valley floor, where lower yields and better drainage give more concentration. Cantina di Gambellara works the hills of the Province of Vicenza in the eastern Veneto, on volcanic soils.
The producer
Cantina di Gambellara
View all Cantina di Gambellara winesOn the volcanic hills east of Verona, where black basalt soils give white wines their nerve, Cantina di Gambellara has grown Garganega for generations. This is Soave's near neighbour and quiet rival, a place of fresh, mineral whites and lively sparkling wine that deserves to be far better known.
The Monopolio range gathers the cooperative's best fruit, from the flagship Gambellara Classico to a crisp Durello sparkling and an organic Prosecco. Each is made to capture the bright, stony freshness that the volcanic soils give so generously.
Well-made, honestly priced and consistently over-delivering, these are wines that reward the curious drinker. They offer the character of a famous appellation without the famous price tag.
Pour them well chilled, whether as an aperitif or with a plate of antipasti, and taste the volcanic freshness of the Veneto hills.
