Wines Italy The Territory . Soil

Our hills are morainic, which means they originated from the rocky material eroded from mountains with the passing of glaciers in pre-historic times.

One may reasonably expect to find very loose gravely soil, but there is more to it than that. In fact, in the surprisingly heterogeneous lands on the south-west coast of Benaco we find a variety of soil types.

In the group 3 area, we see typically morainic zones, particularly at the peaks and upper portions of the hills. Here the soil is warm, dry and generally fairly deep, with a rich sandy component and a lot of gravel. The wines from this soil express the balanced environment the vine enjoys, characterised by pleasant colours, which are not necessarily particularly intense, floral freshness, notable sapidity and medium structure, excellent finesse and persistence.

In an intermediary strip (group 4 area), we find soil which is a mixture of the ancient moraine, mixed with alluvial lime-clay components. This soil is more difficult because it tends to retain water (making it unavailable to the plants) and because it is harder for the vine roots to penetrate deeply and take hold. This means that the vines growing in these conditions run the risk of insufficient water in dry seasons. The grapes present richer wines than those mentioned before, with fully expressed varietal characteristics. Differences are particularly noted in the elegance and olfactory explosion as in the famous Garda Classico Chiaretto. It is true that it is more difficult to achieve and maintain growth-production balance, but those who are truly adept at managing vines will obtain an end wines with great structure and complexity, fullness and multi-layered personality, which will age well.

Marshy areas, which are usually very rich in organic substances (group 1 area), are generally found at the base of the lateral valleys, at the foot of the hills or in remote flooding areas along what was once the edge of the lake, and which today are still subject to light flooding.

Here as well, the winemaker finds challenges: the vines tend to thrive which slows the ripening process, humidity is high making it very difficult to keep the grapes healthy for long. Only a great deal of experience and, even more importantly, vigilant daily attention on the part of those caring for the vineyard will keep the grapes in good form. Then, through cautious pruning, by the end of the season the long rooted plants will have slowly absorbed and made the most of the rich hydric bounty of the soil, guaranteeing perfect physical development, even in the driest years. Wines from this soil are rich in colour, with spicy richly interlaced intense aromas, excellent body, and well-balanced consistency and are well suited to medium-long ageing.

Areas of glaciolacustrine deposits (in group 2) are extremely rich in lime and clay, free of stones and sand, and quite different from the surrounding morainic soils. The soil is decidedly heavy, cold, and rich in calcium and other salts. It is very difficult for the vine roots to penetrate deeply into this soil, but when they do, they find great riches of calcium and mineral salts. The latter are absorbed by the plants and deposited in the fruit pulp, creating very sapid wines. These soils are particularly well suited to white wines and result in Chiarettos which are decisive and intense.