Costaripa is a small family winery located on the southwest shore of Lake Garda in the Lombardy region of Italy. At a recent virtual tasting with fourth generation member Nicole Vezzola, a group of journalists learned and tasted beautiful cool climate rosé wines from this fascinating spot in the world. Nicole Vezzola made it clear that Costaripa is “linked to terroir and appellation, not the market or trends. Our rosés are not just a color, they are a wine.” With its location in Valtenesi on the Brescia shore, it’s easy to understand why.
Lake Garda
The winery is located in Valtenesi on hilly, morainic soils that reach from north to south between the towns of Desenzano and Salo. The climate is tempered by Lake Garda, creating elements of a Mediterranean climate, although the location is quite close to the Alps. With sunshine and breezes in the morning and evening, a sub-Mediterranean microclimate exists. The area boasts 67 different soils and is optimal for producing rosé wines of Groppello Gentile, a unique variety of the Valtenesi region. In fact, it’s one of the oldest indigenous grapes in northern Italy. Nicole Vezzola remarked again and again that terroir, climate and indigenous grapes truly define Costaripa.
Until the tasting, I was not familiar with Groppello Gentile, this historic, northern Italian red wine that’s usually blended. According to Wine Grapes by Robinson, Harding and Vouillamoz (2012), one of the first mentions of Groppello Gentile was “in the sixteenth century in the area of Brescia
This Article was originally published on Grape Experiences
