Lavish Riserva white wine from Lake Garda with flavours of cantaloupe melon, banana, honey and almond

As featured in Forbes: “This 13.5% alcohol Trebbiano has a golden peach color. Sweet aromas of overripe pears, sultanas and prunes. The taste of honey and figs provide an opulent mouthful, with mature acidity. Pair with salmon doused with maple syrup or a flambé dessert.“ Tom Mullen, Forbes 31.10.2021 

This Riserva is the premium wine of the Le Morette winery and is only produced in the best years. It has elegance, complexity, and freshness, and each sip offers flavours of tropical fruits, almonds and a touch of sweet honey. The cellar and vineyards around Le Morette are within a walking distance from Lake Garda. Thanks to the cooling influence of the lake the air in the vicinity is never too hot. This helps grapes to retain their natural freshness. Fabio Zenato, the winemaker, is known for his work to develop Turbiana – a distinctive clone of the Trebbiano di Soave grape – which was officially registered by the Italian government (MiPAAF) in 2021.

Winemaking

The Turbiana grapes are harvested by hand in the middle of October. In the winery, the grapes are gently crushed and the juice is left for one day in contact with the skins – this is Fabio’s signature technique. This way, the juice absorbs lots of flavour, and picks up the intense golden hue from the ripe grape skins. After that, the juice is fermented in stainless steel tanks for ten days at a controlled temperature of 18°C. The wine then spends a whole year maturing “sur lie”, so that it can develop more complex flavours. Fabio then puts the wine into large French oak barrels, and performs malolactic fermentation to soften the grape’s natural acidity. After that, one quarter of the wine is aged in 500-litre French oak barrels, and the rest in stainless steel tanks. After twelve months of ageing, Le Morette Riseva is bottled and stored in the cellar for another year, where its fine flavours complete their development.

Tasting notes

In the glass, this Riserva wine has a vibrant gold colour. It’s a well-developed wine with enchanting flavours of cantaloupe melon, banana, honey and jasmine flower, supported by notes of baked apple, apricot stone and almond, as well as a fresh scent of wet stone. Although Le Morette Riserva has a touch of deceptive sweetness, it is dry (only 2.4% residual sugar), with medium acidity and a full body. This wine offers an elegant and long finish with notes of melon, jasmine and minerality.

Awards

Decanter World Wine Awards 2020 – Bronze Medal (2017 vintage) | Wine Enthusiast – 91 points (2017 vintage) | Gambero Rosso 2021 – Two Red Glasses, final tasting (2017 vintage) | James Suckling – 92 points (2017 vintage) | Vini Buoni d’Italia – Golden Star (2017 vintage) | The WineHunter – Rosso (2017 vintage) | I Vini di Veronelli – 2 stars (2017 vintage)