Corte Gardoni "Le Fontane" Bardolino, Veneto, Italy 2024

FROM KERMIT LYNCH:

THE WINE: 60% Corvina, 30% Rondinella, 10% Other. Le Fontane has always been one of my favorite bottlings from the Piccolis. It was one of the first “light reds” I’d ever tasted during my early days working at KLWM, a category I hadn’t explored much. It turned me on to the brightest of horizons—red wines with weightless bursts of peppery bright juice and a vinous kick. When the desire for a low-stakes splash of something new strikes, I recommend reaching for Corte Gardoni’s highly quaffable wines.

THE PRODUCER: Documents show that the Piccoli family has owned vineyards in the Veneto since the year 1600. Many generations tended the vines, but after phylloxera hit, the ravaged family estate couldn’t support all five brothers, and one of them left to become a fruit grower. Two generations later Gianni Piccoli grew up surrounded by orchards, but he had wine in his blood so when an estate with extensive vineyards came up for sale in 1971 he jumped at the opportunity. For several years the grapes of Corte Gardoni were sold to local cooperatives, but Gianni felt that their wines lacked the soul and individual attention necessary to produce an honest, natural product. In 1980 he definitively broke those ties and for the first time crafted his own wine, focusing on the inherent character of the grapes and the terroir.