Robin Lee is enchanted by La Collina dei Ciliegi Prea Bianco Verona IGT 2021.
It is always pure joy to travel to the hinterlands of the Veneto, but this day was particularly special because it was the height of cherry season and the branches along the roadside were laden with tantalizing, sweet red fruit. As the name attests, La Collina dei Ciliegi, in the high plateau over Valpantena above Valpolicella, was once cherry territory.
A generation ago, grape growers in Valpolicella relied on cherries to supplement their income, especially in the poorer vintages, but the supply chains have broken down, and food production has been reorganized in favor of national supermarket chains. There is no longer any profit in fresh fruit. In Montecchio, however, right on the way between the wine villages of Negrar and Grezzana, the cherries are still profuse, and on this day, they were at their peak, simply irresistible and there for the taking. The old cherry growers, however, are the only ones eating them; no one else, it seems, is interested in delicious fresh cherries. A sweet, red-faced, cherry-shaped old man was eating cherries off his tree in a vast orchard bursting with ripe fruit. Leaning on his beat-up old truck with a blissed-out expression, he invited me to join him and to please take as many cherries as I wanted, but I didn’t have any kind of basket, and I had to be at my appointment five minutes down the road in the wine-producing area where there are no cherries at all. Notwithstanding the coincidence of the timing and the suggestive name of the estate, La Collina dei Ciliegi, this event was nothing at all to do with cherries, which are only a distant memory—that is, if something forgotten can be considered a memory.
In Anton Chekhov’s tragi-comic final play The Cherry Orchard, written in 1903, Yermolai Lopakhin, a self-made man, the grandson of serfs, eventually buys the eponymous estate with its famous cherry orchard from his family’s past owners, the endearing, impractical, eccentric aristocrats who ultimately must leave their family home with all its sad and happy memories. The play ends with the doom-laden sound of the cherry trees being chopped down to build holiday homes. Chekhov’s play comes to mind as one enters the luxurious wine resort and hotel, Ca’ del Moro, where the Collina dei Ciliegi presentation was taking place and where we tasted the first wine from what is billed as “the youngest and most revolutionary winery in the Valpantena.” It feels like the first act in a sequel to Chekhov’s last work.
Related
Persuasive, structured minerality
The first wine released by La Collina dei Ciliegi is Prea, a single-vineyard white IGT blend that is mainly Garganega, the variety associated with neighboring Soave, bolstered by Pinot Bianco and Chardonnay. Prea is 1,870–2,030ft (570–620m) above sea level, and the high altitude is felt in the wine, which has a persuasive, structured minerality that distinguishes it from more run-of-the-mill Garganega wines. The wine is very good indeed, and it is exactly the kind of white wine that people in Italy like to drink. To be successful, white wine in Italy must go well with fish and everything else that you eat in summer. It is not supposed to be complicated. White wines with complexity are not mainstream. Yermolai Lopakhin—a good man at heart and also a savvy businessman—would thoroughly approve of Prea, I’m sure.
Internationally renowned agronomists and “terroir-hunters,” husband-and-wife team Claude and Lydia Bourguignon have consulted on this project and performed in-depth analyses of the soil, which indicates how seriously it is being taken. In every vineyard decision, there has been a high level of investment and a commitment to preserving the natural landscape. The Bourguignon team recommended planting 8,000 vines per hectare because, says Lydia, “a grand vin must have high density.” The steep vineyards were not terraced, because that would disturb the soil structure, and they also proposed that white varieties be planted—in particular, on the Prea parcel—due to the high calcium content of the soils. This will no doubt turn out to be an excellent commercial decision.
High-quality Italian white wine is in demand more than ever, but most other producers in the region have been slow to realize this and are late in rushing to fill the gap in the market. La Collina dei Ciliegi’s wines are elite offerings aimed at the luxury market, which is primed to receive them. They are sure to be a great success. Everything is just fine, even if it feels just like a Chekhov play.
Content from our partners
La Collina dei Ciliegi Prea Bianco Verona IGT 2021
A restrained aroma and palate, with subdued hints of violet, sunflower, marigold, and camomile, gives way to green agave, golden kiwi, and delicate citrusy notes of green kumquat. Much like wines from Soave, this is balanced and restrained, with 13% ABV and medium intensity and length. This is an unpretentious wine that will not distract you from your sea bass, the view from your terrace over the rooftops of Venice, or the eyes of your beloved. 2024–25. | 90
