TESTARDO

Buttery leeks, shrimp tacos, spinach dip

Chill, chill, chill!

Humble, hardworking and patient – hallmarks of the donkey, and according to Francesco Follador, the winegrower as well. Stubbornness is another. Francesco holds tradition and heritage extremely close to his heart, refusing to take the easy road on anything – from the location his of vineyards on hard-to-farm hills, to insisting on growing much less popular native grapes. All in the name of being true to what he strongly believes is the best the region can produce and preserving the deep heritage of Valdobbiadene. It’s because he shares so many of these qualities with the donkey, that he chose it as his logo. To quote his website, “Yes, we are donkeys and we are proud of it”.

These people are so hard-headed they even named a wine after it! “Testardo” is Italian for stubborn. Love that this stubbornly delicious little baby harks back to the days of less commercially-oriented Prosecco production - another step toward tradition.

Place: Valdobbiadene, Italy
Grape: Glera, Perera, Verdiso
Style: Fizzy, leesy and lovely
Ingredients: Grapes and a pinch of SO2