BARDOLINO

Cheesy risotto, grilled salmon, Thai veggie stir fry

Lightly chilled, please

A tale as old as time, women in wine baby! Matilde Poggi’s first harvest, on her family-owned 15th-century farmhouse, happened in 1984. She worked tirelessly at a time when large, quantity-driven firms and cooperatives dominated local production. Rather than following the masses, Matilde chose to concentrate on quality, revamping her vineyards to better express the area’s native grapes. Today, she is one of Italy’s most respected producers, and, in 2013 was elected President of the Federazione Italiana Vignaioli Indipendenti (Italian Federation of Independent Grape Growers or FIVI). More recently, she became the first Italian and first female president of the European equivalent, the European Confederation of Independent Winegrowers (CEVI).

Matilde has three daughters, to whom she’d like to pass on Le Fraghe one day (but we’re volunteering in case her girls don’t want it – wanna come?).

Matilde’s farming & winemaking is certified organic and super low intervention – to the point that it’s often only Matilde herself working on the farm & in the cellar. Her work at FIVI and CEVI, as the voice of small independent wine producers, is invaluable.

We’ve said it before and we will say it again, we live for an underdog! Bardolino is often compared to Beaujolais, which, as far as the French are concerned, does not always carry the same sex appeal as its neighbour Burgundy (Bardolino is right next to Valpolicella, so it can relate). Yet Beaujolais and Bardolino share some of the most wonderful “quaffing” characteristics. Sadly, some of the best examples are often wildly underappreciated. We’re here to tell you that we’re championing this wine. All. Day. Long.

Place: Cavaion Veronese, Veneto, Italy
Grape: Corvina, Rondinella
Style: Bright and light
Ingredients: Grapes + a tiiiiiny bit of SO2 (being certified organic in Italy, she's only allowed to use half the sulphur that other producers are allowed. Matilde uses about half of that)