Cà dei Frati Pietro Dal Cero Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG 2017
Type: Rose
Country: Italy
Region: Veneto
Grape Variety: Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, Croatina
Alcohol Percentage: 17%
Viticulture: Organic Farming
Climate: Generally warm and temperate climate but mitigated by its close proximity to Lake Garda, with constant breeze that keeps the vineyards ventilated, ideal for healthy grape growing
Terroir: Vineyards grow on a soilbed of limestone, white shingle and clay, cultivated with the simple Guyot system
Ageing: Withering in boxes for 4 months, maceration in steel with prolonged contact. Aged in barriques for 24 months, followed by 12 months in steel and 24 months in the bottle
Color: Ruby
Nose: The fruit is exuberant with a very pleasurable sour cherry nose, merged with hints of chocolate and sweet spices
Palate: Elegant palate enhanced by its floral component of purple rose. Balsamic notes emerge with increasing conviction, along with hints of star anise and wild gooseberry. The tertiary elements are subtle and leave the perception of pleasurable notes of arabica and mild tobacco. The wine finds its utmost expression at the table with seasoned cheeses, well-cooked meats, braised dishes and game.
About the Winery:
Ca’ dei Frati was founded in 1939 when patriarch Felice Dal Cero settled in Sirmione (Brescia province) on the Lombardy region side of the Lugana appellation. It’s called Ca’ dei Frati or “friar house,” because it was once owned by monks who grew grapes there. Soil types play a fundamental role in crafting Ca’ dei Frati’s fresh, minerality-driven wines. Lake Garda was created during the Eocene era, some 35 million years ago, by a melting glacier. As the melting ice flowed south from what we now call the Italian Alps, it also brought with its glacial detritus.
Today, these rocky and pebbly “morainic” soils are ideal for the production of fine wine. Because the roots of the vines have to work harder to find the water table in the well-drained soils, their fruit production became more vigorous. As a result, the grape berries are richer in aroma and flavour, with more complexity and depth. Ca’ dei Frati manages 200 hectares planted to vine, accounting for 10 percent of DOC Lugana’s production.
