Custoza DOC: the white from the morainic hills of Garda

Custoza wine: did you know that …?
A visit to the morainic hills that are the terroir of Custoza DOC
The Bennati winery: one hundred years of prestigious tradition

Custoza is a white wine from the Veneto region and more precisely from the morainic hills around Lake Garda, a territory that boasts excellent soil and climate characteristics and therefore is especially suited for white grape varieties. DOC (controlled designation of origin) since 1971, it is immediately recognised by the nose thanks to its peculiar features that are generated by a unique combination of environment and climate.

Carefree, fresh and fruity, it is an enjoyable wine and perfect for vinotheques and wine bars seeking to offer a highly drinkable wine during hot summer evenings, to be savoured in good company while nibbling on ‘cicchetti’ (Veneto’s hors d’oeuvres) or tapas.

Custoza wine: did you know that …?

Did you know that Custoza is not a grape variety but a blend? Yes, a blend of various grape varieties selected and vinified together in different doses according to the features the winery aims to achieve, always in compliance with the specific limits set by the program for achieving DOC status.

The varieties typically assembled for its production are Garganega, Trebbianello, Manzoni Bianco, Pinot Bianco, Bianca Fernanda, Malvasia, Riesling Italico and Chardonnay. This blend of white grapes give the wine a delicate and yet always distinctive complexity of flavours.

The name ‘Custoza’ does not refer only to the wine, however! Custoza is also the name of the town not far from Lake Garda where this exceptional wine has always been produced. Custoza is a very small and typical town of ancient Roman origins, standing on the outmost border of the morainic amphitheatre of the Garda area, a location that has gained its place in Italian history for the battles fought there in Italy’s first and third wars of independence for the control of the Venetian plain.

Here, steeped in history and the beautiful natural landscape, visitors can stop at one of the many wineries that produce Custoza or at the local wine bars to taste this delicate, floral and fruity wine capable of enticing the palate with its unforgettable freshness.

A visit to the morainic hills that are the terroir of Custoza DOC

As often happens, what makes a wine truly unique is the unrepeatable combination of soil and terroir chosen for the cultivation of its vines. Custoza is no exception, seeing that it comes from a limited production area that extends through the southern strip of morainic hills between the municipalities of Sommacampagna, Villafranca di Verona and Peschiera del Garda, just to mention a few.

These hills boast millennia of history. They were formed by the deposits left behind by the erosion of a glacier that created Lake Garda in the geological era going from approx. 126 thousand to 11,600 years ago. This soil, featuring a significant presence of minerals, is where the vineyards that create the grapes for Custoza grow. The resulting wine stands out for the sapidity and minerality inherited by this discontinuous, pebbly and sometimes clayey soil.

The mild and temperate climate generated by the currents coming from the lake, and the hardly ever sultry summers and mildly cold winters, complete the picture, making this area one of the most important terroirs in the Veneto region for the cultivation of white grape vineyards.

The Bennati winery: one hundred years of prestigious tradition

Among the Veronese hills is a winery that can boast more than a century of making prestigious and highly traditional wines: the Bennati winery, founded in 1920 by Antonio Bennati, also known as Toni Recioto, a nickname derived from the famous Recioto passito wine.

As representative of a wine-making art of long standing, the Bennati family has welcomed renewal over the years by opening out to new visions and prospects in the production of superior quality wines that, by means of their fragrances and scents, sip after sip tell the tale of a precious land.

Proud ambassador of the prestigious Veronese terroir, the Bennati winery can boast of the presence, in its wide assortment of local wines, of the Custoza that features three different lines:

Soraighe Custoza DOC: made from a blend of Garganega, Trebbiano, Chardonnay and Cortese varieties, it is the more structured and persistent version of the three. Its sapid taste, abounding in floral and fruity notes, makes it an ideal aperitif as well as a lovely accompaniment to fish-based dishes. It has an intense bouquet with notes of wisteria and peach.

I Gadi Custoza DOC: fresh and pleasingly mineral to the palate, with a fragrant fruity taste. To the nose it evokes scents of kiwi, green apple and sage. Ideal when paired with delicate hors d’oeuvres, oven-baked lasagna and white meats.

Cornalè Custoza DOC: a fresh and delicate wine with a pleasingly tart finish, perfect for summer dinners based on fresh pasta dishes, vegetables and appetizers.

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