After going through a phase where Italian producers denied their history in favor of lavish wines from international varieties and volume branded commodity wines, the new generation of Italian winemakers is going back to its roots and celebrating the indigenous varieties and terroirs of arguably the most diverse winemaking country on Earth. Of course, the 'aia’ wines are still world class but overlooked varieties like Cesanese, Schioppettino, Nerello Mascalese and countless semi-extinct varieties are being appreciated for their unique flavors and stories.

Add to that the revival of many traditional wines of Italy with massive jumps in quality. Chianti Classico has made great strides in farming and delineation of sub-regions. Pinot Grigio is elevated to serious wine by top producers in Alto Adige and Friuli.

Which brings me to an area that’s entering a renaissance: the wine regions around Verona in the Veneto, including Soave and Valpolicella. These producers are slowly joining the new Italian world through clean winemaking, careful farming and focusing on prime site expression over scale. Among the leaders in both areas is Antonio Fattori, who makes site-specific Soave and Valpolicella from high elevation sites.

As a fifth generation farmer, Antonio Fattori had a good foundation of vineyards and a cellar, to begin to make his own mark. He was the first of his family to study winemaking (with key apprenticeships in Dijon and New Zealand) and applied the techniques to his estate.

He has brought focus to making wine with better technology (stainless steel, cooler fermentation, etc.) and more sustainable winemaking including the farming organically from the outset. He has also focused on maximizing the expression of each site with wines designed to express their unique aspects.

The reds come from a 15 ha single vineyard, Col de la Bastia with high elevation clay-limestone soils on the Eastern edge of the DOCG. The clay-limestone soils and meticulous winemaking maintain a bright edge to the wine that keeps the wines refreshing and easy to drink, in the style of Bertani and Masi. Each of the three tiers, including juicy Valpolicella to the balanced Ripasso and the classically elegant but powerful Amarone, work well with food including the grilled or rich braised meats and mature cheeses.

They check all the boxes of the trendier wines (organic farming, high elevation, terroir specificity) with centuries of tradition as a premium wine region.

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