- WINERY Tenuta Le Velette
- GRAPE Trebbiano
- YEAR 2008
- COUNTRY Italy
- REGION Orvieto Classico
This zesty white blend comes from Orvieto, a part of Italy’s land-locked Umbria region that turns out crisp, light-bodied whites.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Most of the wineries in Orvieto are large cooperatives, which turn out a lot of forgettable wine. This bottling comes from a historic estate winery that’s been owned since the 1870s by the Bottai family, who make wine on site using grapes from the estate’s 220 acres of vineyards. Formerly a monastery, Le Velette has cellars dug out of tufa, the soft volcanic rock that underlies much of Orvieto and which gives the region’s wines—mostly crisp whites made from local grapes like Trebbiano and Grechetto—their minerality. Brother and sister Corrado and Cecilia Bottai manage the winery today; their entry-level Berganorio cuvée is a zesty blend of five native white grapes that has terrific intensity.
SMELL IT
Citrus scents of lime and grapefruit and a light almond note.
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TASTE IT
Zippy, herb-edged flavors of lime and minerals.
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SERVE IT
Well chilled, either on its own or with food.
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