Producers
Le Fraghe
Le Fraghe Winemaker Matilde Poggi was born in 1962, the third of six children, and she grow grapes and make wine in Cavaion Veronese, in the heart of the Bardolino production zone. Her first harvest was in 1984; prior to that year the grapes were sold to another winery. Even as a young child she remember hearing the conversations about vines and wine, and recall those Octobers, when she was going right from school to harvesting the grapes. That is the land that Matilde calls Family. Matilde today is the President of FIVI the Italian Federation Independent Winemakers.
Veneto
Veneto’s wines are some of Italy’s best known exports – the names of Soave, Bardolino and Valpolicella have long been associated with eminently drinkable Italian wines. Yet there is a lot more to this region, and indeed a lot more behind the names of its best known wines. With 26 DOCs and 13 DOCGs, Venice’s region has a substantial production of quality wine, as well as well-priced easy-drinking reds and whites bottled as IGTs. One of Italy’s most interesting wines is a product of these three grapes, the deep, dark Amarone della Valpolicella, recently promoted to DOCG status. Made from partly dried grapes in the vineyards north of Verona, it is a structured, complex and heady wine capable of great age that has gained a cult following among the wine industry’s elite.
In Treviso, north of Venice, are the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene where the popular bubbly Prosecco is made using the Charmat method where the second fermentation takes place in large tanks.
In 2009 Prosecco di Conegliano e Valdobbiadene has become DOCG, encouraging reduced yields in the vineyards. Prosecco is also produced in the neighbouring Montello e Colli Asolani zone. White wines from Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon and Chardonnay are gaining in popularity and recent versions are responding well to oak ageing.
