Nestled between the eastern shores of Lake Garda, the hills of Valpolicella, and the ancient city of Verona, the Bardolino area is where we find Matilde Poggi's vineyards. Her winery is outside of the town of Affi. She grows Corvina and Rondinella (both indigenous varietals organically and makes her wine naturally (no additives, native yeast, no enzymes).
Chiaretto means the “little light one” and refers to the pleasing color and lighter body of the rose' wines from these area's (Bardolino and Veneto mostly) compared to the serious reds such as Valpolicella and Amarone
Matilde took over the family vines in 1984. She stopped selling the grapes and began to make her own wines. Experimenting with the blends, she now makes Bardolino her way - more Corvina than Rondinella which is the opposite of the usual blend. She finds it works for the natural way of her vines.
From Matilde: "I love this earth, every square metre of it somehow different, brought here by the glaciers that carved out, in remotest times, the the bed of the lake and the valley of the Adige river. Everything that I do in the vineyard is aimed at respecting and preserving those unique and literally incomparable qualities that I find only in my wines."
