Giovanna La Rocca Bardolino 2020
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$24.99 - Sale price
- $9.99
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Read About the WineGet to Know This Product
When I’m offered a glass from an expert wine grower like Giovanna Tantini, I’ve learned to just say “thank you.” The award-winning winemaker seems to never disappoint. This clean, unoaked red from Valpolicella positively sings with soil-driven slate, bright pomegranate, and potpourri. Old vines and low-yield picking give it purpose, even at an affordable price. With its light body, it is outstanding with meats like salami and prosciutto and continually leaves us wanting just a bit more!
You may not know this grape, Corvina, but I betcha you know its "big brother" - Amarone. Amarone is almost always a blend of grapes, but usually Corvina is the dominant partner grape in those blends. Amarones are beautiful, but they are also huge! Here is your chance to check out the fresh Amarone flavors without the big, rich level of alcohol. We just love those wines but they also tend to obscure something magical - the grape varieties underneath the appesamento.
For anyone visiting Giovanna Tantini’s winery, it’s impossible not to appreciate the charm, constant hospitality, and incredible drive of its eponymous owner and winemaker. Giovanna spent over 30 years championing the grape variety Corvina for exactly what it is - fresh, delicious, complex, full of depth and charming red wine - no raisination needed. Sure, the place, Bardolino, and the grape variety may not roll off the American tongue (except once you have a glass, nee a bottle). So maybe put inside your head the idea of an Italian American making Pinot Noir in the Russian River, someone say, like Roccioli. And you have it:
Her 2020 is at once elegant and intense: aromatics of wild raspberry, black cherry, plum and floral notes yield to minerals, spice and toasty oak. It has a juicy, coating entry, followed by more layers of raspberry and cherry fruit, and rich, integrated tannins. The wine is deftly shaped with a subtle combination of new and once-used French oak barrels. Being from the powerhouse ’20 vintage, and at five years old, it drinks incredibly well right now.
In almost every way, Giovanna Tantini has set herself apart. Unlike the large co-ops which dominate the Veneto region, this wine represents the true artisanal minority. La Rocca is the synthesis of Giovanna’s decades-long journey. She believed in the denomination since its inception, and this wine is Giovanna’s expression of it. To the point of putting her face on the label! Don’t miss this sweetheart of a deal.
Critical acclaim:
“95 points. The wines that Giovanna Tantini produces today are in fact declarations of love for Corvina, the native red Veronese grape par excellence; a delicate grape, capable of yielding elegant wines with an unsurprising ability to mature over time. More or less sparse clusters, with pruinose berries and a charge of anthocyanins that turn to ruby red and orange. Ideal for producing light pink wines, as well as elegant and vibrant red wines. In winemaking these grapes give off spicy notes, hints reminiscent of the crispness of red and yellow fruits, as well as taut savory sensations. As the wines mature, the spiciness becomes more intense but sharp, and the fruity sensations are often reminiscent of more or less sweet citrus fruits. The fate of maturation goes toward balsamic notes, more or less mentholated and fresh to remind also of licorice.
“All these things we kind of knew already, Giovanna has accustomed us over the years to this philosophy of hers. What is surprising instead is La Rocca 2020. This year's big surprise. Burgundy bottle, label that reads La Rocca and portrays Giovanna's face. For 20 percent this wine rests in wood and is complex, mouthwatering and inviting. I enjoyed it in the presence of the producer, reconfirmed it blind in the Consortium in battery with the others. It must be said that in recent years in general the products of the appellation have undergone a positive momentum towards cleanliness, frankness and pleasantness in drinking. Chapeau!
“Corvina 95%, Rondinella 5%. Matura per il 20% in botti di legno. Rubino con qualche riflesso granato. Naso con note di incenso, vaniglia e tostatura. Albicocca leggermente appassita, poi china, bergamotto, tamarindo. Molto lungo, teso, intenso. Dalla sapidità persistente.” - Daniele Cernilli, WineDoctor.com
