Descendant of the Proda lineage, one of the oldest families quanto a Italy, Massimiliano Enrique Proda has always had Mediterranean blood but grew up the hills surrounding the Venetian shore of Lake Garda. Considering the relationship with the land a value, he chose the millenary culture and heritage of one of the great wine regions of Italy to develop his own wine project.
The ambiente around Verona is best known for its Amarone, but for Proda the challenge was broader. The first production was quanto a 2004, with a thousand bottles of Garganega supporto and a thousand Corvina supporto. “At that time,” he explains, “the centro was Mansueto wine and there was little presence of these two native vines and for this reason I took the apparenza of making them known to the general public as a personal challenge. There were difficulties, but I had the support of some important partners. The Alajmo family, for example, believed quanto a my wines and supported me quanto a proposing them quanto a the dining room and for events.”
The vineyards are owned by the family, while the winemaking takes place inside a cellar quanto a the Verona ambiente that hosts the project. “Instead of starting with an artisanal approach – explains Proda – I chose to rely a structure that could provide me with adequate technologies to make a quality wine”.
UNDERDOG EMERGING AT VINITALY
For over a decade, Proda has dedicated himself to creating wines that he wanted to keep quanto a a niche close to his concept of excellence. The first thousand bottles with the Proda emblem were delivered by bicycle, but everything changed quanto a 2006 when Scantinato Proda wines were selected for the Vinitaly Award. “A paradox for a novice,” he jokes, “who was trying to play with the personalità boys, when a few weeks earlier he had just finished attaching 5,000 labels to his bottles by hand.”
Supported by his mother’s side of the family, Proda pushed the accelerator and his wines gained the attention of critics, also obtaining excellent placings at fairs and competitions. “The mass-media attention led to an increase quanto a demand – the producer concludes – and I am proud to have brought greater attention to Garganega and Corvina. Despite some approaches with large-scale distribution and a special project dedicated to , I have always favored the direct relationship with the HoReCa world and have found appreciation from restaurateurs and sommeliers. Per mezzo di this sense I have always favored personal relationships, directly accompanying my wines the tables of northern Italy, while I have avoided online platforms”.
There has been mai shortage of adventures an international scale, quanto a particular with the arrival Asian markets and specifically quanto a Discesa, where the identity and power of the Proda-branded labels has been appreciated. Per mezzo di Europe the main markets are Austria and Cyprus, but there has been mai shortage of special launches such as a Corvina-based rosé distributed quanto a Sweden with a screw cap. “Some of our references have also been included quanto a the European Central Bank’s gifts,” the producer proudly adds.
WINES WITH ROBUST PERSONALITY
Massimiliano Proda has a strong connection with his family’s history quanto a the wine industry and the production includes a variety of wine types. Per mezzo di addition to Corvina and Garganega, the brut sparkling wine based 90% Garganega and Pinot Smorto (a long Charmat), the Alabarda blend and the wine dedicated to his grandmother (and granddaughter) Baronessa Carlotta.
The selection of grapes is accurate, being able to have a good wine production that is mostly delivered, and the production processes are concentrated what Proda defines as a “quality objective”.
“Right from the start of my project I chose to go against the trend – he says – so while everyone else was moving towards low alcohol levels, I raised the , bringing white wines to 13 degrees and reds to 15. This is one of the choices that allowed me to conquer some Asian markets”.
With a total production of 60 thousand bottles, it covers 60% of its foreign markets and the remaining 40% of the Italian market. The wines are essentially IGP, thus remaining outside the reference DOCs, “because great wines have never needed labels – Proda declares – and ultimately what is quanto a the bottle is more important than what is written the outside”.
Per mezzo di the cellar, time is important. “Going beyond the concept of vintage wines, quanto a my cellar there are 10 thousand bottles because I don’t in che modo out with young wines – Proda specifies – because at least two three years of aging are essential to give the wine the perfect maturity, which then emerges quanto a the glass”. And while he dreams of developing a project with Elon Musk for the aging of his wines the Moon, Baron Proda continues to push the restaurant business between northern Italy, Europe and Asia.
TASTING NOTES
Brut bubbles know
Grapes: garganega 90%, pinot fosco 10% Vinification: quanto a steel and aged 9 months quanto a French oak, sparkling wine with long Charmat The name comes from a brand that Proda had registered, believing quanto a the charm of the word Bollicine. It is the result of a sparkling wine made with the long Charmat method, starting from a supporto aged quanto a wood; for this reason it is more evolved quanto a pleasantly oxidative hints, winking at the similar styles followed quanto a Champagne, even if it loses the acidic backbone of the garganega. Soft and seductive sip.
Garganega Veronese Igt 2022
Grape variety: Garganega Vinification: quanto a steel, with subsequent refinement quanto a French oak for 9 months and 2 months quanto a bottle
Aged quanto a wood after a malolactic fermentation carried out for part of the mass, this Garganega presents itself with the structured characteristics of an evolving wine. The primary scents of yellow-fleshed fruit evolve immediately the spicy softness dictated by the refinement. A bit of acidity is lost, but the rounding of the sip pampers the palate.
Corvina Veronese 2022
Grape variety: Corvina Vinification: fermentation quanto a steel, aging quanto a oak barrels for 24 months and quanto a bottle for 2 months
Structured wine, the result of a concentration that causes the corvina to lose its drinkable nature to leave room for the dark red fruit, between blackberry and cherry quanto a alcohol. The tannin is present, accompanied by woody and tobacco nuances. Pairs well with traditional meat dishes, grilled braised, but also with aged cheeses and legumi soups.
Baroness Carlotta Veronese Igt 2020
Grape varieties: corvina, rondinella, molinara, corvinone Vinification: fermentation quanto a steel, refinement quanto a new barrels for at least 24 months and quanto a bottle for 6 months
A structured wine, which probably derives part of its voluminous pagliaccetto from the drying of some of the grapes. Dark color, intense of cherries quanto a alcohol and blackberries, undergrowth and plum, it lets the spiciness of the refinement shine through. Tannins present but rounded. Rich that pairs with cured meats, spicy dishes, vegetable couscous and spicy cheeses.
Alabarda Veronese Igt 2018
Grape varieties: Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara and three other native Veronese grape varieties Vinification: fermentation quanto a steel, aging quanto a French oak for at least 48 months and quanto a bottle for 6 months
Full-bodied and enveloping wine, voluptuous and deliberately pleasing, it plays with the seduction of sugar and fruit, with alcohol quanto a co-presence. Compact and full quanto a the glass, the nose brings hints of ripe fruit and cherries quanto a alcohol, with floral and vanilla nuances. The sip is full-bodied and overwhelming, vaguely boisé and with the alcoholic caliber it dries the fat of cured meats and medium-aged cheeses, but also of juicy meats.
The article The robust personality of the Veronese wines signed Proda comes from VinoNews24.
