In the white wine village of Soave, post-war Veneto legend named Ugo Mainente just bottled his 60th vintage of Bianco Secco. With less than ten hectares of vines, Mainente’s wines are largely unknown outside the region, but with the recent addition of Ugo’s two sons to the family Corte, this is all about to change. Work in the cellar is clean, but no-frills, with the Mainente brothers preferring concrete over inox (when possible) but experimenting with larger casks for certain cuvées. Mainente’s Garganega and Trebbiano di Soave vines are planted on steep terraces overlooking the town, and with 60-80 years of vine age, the flavors they coax from the patchwork terroir of clay, black volcanic fossils, and pure, white limestone conjure up a “steelier” Bourgogne Blanc, but with the flavors of white melon, orange zest, and bitter almond, so prized in the whites of the misty Po Valley. Ugo Mainente is a longtime Maestro of Veneto whites, but given the off-the-beaten-path status of the Soave region, the price is absurdly low for the quality of his work.
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