Valtènesi, the pink side of Garda • Food and Wine Italy

Take Valtènesi, a location that neglects the Brescia side of the lake, squeezed in between the body of water and the morainic hills, dotted with towns, churches and castles, towers and ancient homes that tell the course of its thousand-year history. To ask ourselves about the roots we would most likely reach Greece, if the etymology of the toponym can be traced back to the Vallis Atheniensis where Athenian colonists settled following the Roman armies, while another current of believed links the name Valtènesi to the ancient Pieve Tenense, currently pointed out by Frederick II in 1221. Definitely this land can inform the story of the passage of the Romans and Scaligeri, of the Viscontis, the supremacy of the Serenissima Republic of Venice along with that of the Austrians. It is divided into 7 towns, consisting of seaside and uneven, however when preparing the journey you can merely choose to get lost, overlooking the borders: take pleasure in the beaches of Manerba or the castle of Padenghe, consume a glass of Moniga, deal with the slopes covered in vineyards, from the olive groves, to reach Polpenazze or Puegnago del Garda, the latter home to the Valtènesi consortium.

The history of Valtènesi is fragrant specifically with grapes and olives, however likewise with capers and lemons, in a financial and social material that still preserves a farming occupation. Raising itself in the production of DOP additional virgin olive oil and red wine, whose remarkable nature concentrates on a native range, the delicate yet valuable groppello. We are speaking about a black grape range that just Valtènesi can boast (erratic production specific niches in Val di Non, Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna), the glue and icon of the whole district; its name (this time the origin is specific) describes the shape of the lot, little and compact: a genuine knot, “groppo” in dialect. The most prevalent version is that of the groppello gentile, whose grape has an extremely thick skin. thin, violet blue in color; fragile basic material, which needs experience and love in processing – the exact same love that the regional individuals reserve “for household things, those that are understood even before discovering to stroll”, as they state at the Consortium, “which accompany us every action of the method after another in life.” Groppello for that reason as an aspect of daily life, of the standard alphabet, of neighborhood identity. Thus the dedication to a clonal choice task, which in the future will likewise be established in a speculative vineyard, so regarding specify in the field how this range can finest reveal the special, sophistication and skill intrinsic in its DNA.