Gambellara DOC

A small volcanic zone in the province of Vicenza, immediately east of Soave and made from the same grape, and one of the clearest demonstrations in Italy of what basalt does to a wine. The sweet Recioto di Gambellara holds its own DOCG; this DOC covers the dry wines.

The Terroir The registered file is unusually detailed about the mechanism. A high diurnal range slows ripening and allows the full development of the aromatic compounds. In the basaltic substrates the roots are forced to remain shallow and take up concentrated substances, and the file credits this directly with the minerality and sapidity of the wines. The very permeable calcareous hill zone raises sugar. The clay-silt soils accentuate aromatic substances. And the volcanic amphitheatres that enclose the zone, together with hillside exposure and low rainfall, concentrate mineral salts, aromatics and sugars, allowing an earlier harvest.

Grape Varieties Garganega, essentially alone. It is the same variety that makes Soave, and the comparison is the most useful thing to know about Gambellara: the two zones sit side by side, share a grape, and taste recognisably different. Garganega is late-ripening, moderate in acid and neutral if overcropped, and it is one of the few Italian whites that genuinely transmits soil difference.

The Critical Take Gambellara is smaller and poorer than Soave and has none of its recognition, which is why the wines remain cheap. What the basalt gives is a smoky, salt-edged, almost flinty character over the variety’s usual white flowers and almond, with a texture that is fuller than the alcohol suggests. The best bottlings hold five to eight years and develop the waxy, honeyed depth good Garganega reaches. The zone’s problem is that it is easier to sell a wine called Soave, and a good deal of Gambellara fruit has historically left under that name.

The Sweet Wines The zone’s historic reputation rested on dried-grape wine. Recioto di Gambellara, now a separate DOCG, is made from Garganega dried through the winter and fermented to leave the wine sweet; a Vin Santo di Gambellara is also produced, aged oxidatively in small barrels. Both are made in tiny quantity, and the Recioto in particular is one of the more underrated sweet wines in the Veneto.

At the Table Vicentino and Veronese cooking: bacalà alla vicentina, freshwater fish, risotto, asparagus in season, and fresh cheese. The salinity makes it one of the better Italian whites with fried food. Serve at 11–12°C, warmer than habit suggests, and give an older bottle a large glass.

Benchmark Producers Angiolino Maule, Davide Vignato, Dal Maso, Cavazza, Menti.