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In order to try to entice you to discover the “soft tannicity” of Groppello, that frank, sometimes pleasantly rough, but authentic character, I have chosen the wine of a winery really located in the hinterland, in that of Bedizzole, a village located “on the last moraine hills formed in a distant era by the glaciers that shaped the Garda territory”. A company where one of the liveliest and most passionate WOMEN OF WINE I know, Cristina Inganni, committed to continuing her husband's work Dario Dattoli, restaurateur and great connoisseur of Bacchus who died prematurely in 1998, who wanted to create this small business in the early 1990s. Small company the Cantrina, Now run by Cristina together with another super-enthusiast, Diego Lavo: just under 6 hectares of land, on two plots, about twenty thousand bottles produced, but a tenacious work that has involved, with many trials and experiments, even reckless ones, something like 33 thousand vine stocks, initially “favouring international varieties and now rediscovering, in part, some local vines”. An estate where trying out new paths is standard practice, as the owner likes to remind us when she observes that “the wines transmit the character of the territory of origin and of the people who make them; from these elements, thanks also to my past experiences linked to an artistic training, I wanted to give our wines an absolutely creative and consequently unique imprint”. Of Cantrina I have already reported, recently, here, the Benaco Bresciano Riné, The Garda Groppello 2009, made with Riesling Renano, Chardonnay and Incrocio Manzoni, but with a bit of salivation in my mouth, thinking that before Christmas I really must treat myself to a spit like Bacchus commands, I would like to recommend it to your attention today, not agreeing at all with my friend (and fellow Interista) Francesco Falcone, who in his note in the already cited article on Enogea defines it, perhaps after a superficial assessment, ’fuzzy and unpretentious“, the Garda Groppello 2009, made from Groppello grapes harvested around the third ten days of September last year, with a simple winemaking technique that calls for cold pre-fermentation maceration for a week followed by fermentation at low temperature for about eight days and ageing for six months in stainless steel barrels. This is a wine with interesting analytical data that speak of thirteen degrees alcohol, a Ph of 3.70, a dry extract of 29.00 g/l and a dry character, with residual sugars fixed at 3 grams per litre. Don't expect from this Garda Classico Doc Groppello 2009 the big wine that surprises and excites the guides - even if Slowine reviews the wine positively - the ambitious and important wine, but yes, the wine capable of being drunk with great pleasure, of harmoniously accompanying food, spit of course, but also lake fish, fresh salami, first courses and grilled meats, or sausage with potatoes. Light in colour (a beautiful, multi-reflected, ringing ruby), but of great fragrance and immediacy in the wine, with a bouquet characterised by cherry fruit, but also with tones of blackberry and raspberry, well pulpy and crisp, enhanced by nuances of aromatic herbs, liquorice, black pepper, a slightly mineral hint, and a beautiful floral component in evidence that recalls violets. Identical juiciness and roundness, vibrant, of the fruit on the palate, and a declared, transparent drinkability, underpinned by a convincing flesiness and a firm tannic content that gives character and backbone to the wine together with a fresh, savoury, well-calibrated acidity. A straightforward wine (price around 8 euros in the cellar), the kind of wine that when served at the table and matched with the right dishes never leaves the bottle half-full on the table. And excuse me if this is not enough... Franco Ziliani Azienda Agricola Cantrina Via Colombera 7 Bedizzole BS tel. and fax 030 6871052 e-mail info@cantrina.it website https://www.cantrina.it/