Gambellara

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The appellation area encompasses a hilly sector with flat-topped ridges at elevations between 250 and 350 metres, from which slopes planted with vines extend downward.
• The hilly zone is dominated by soils of volcanic origin, with the Parco San Marco and its basalt columns, along with some limestone, though to a much lesser extent on the summit positions.
• Soils tend to be uniformly clayey, locally with a high bentonitic component, with outcrops of calcareous or marly calcareous sedimentary rocks and patches of fossiliferous whitish-yellow calcarenites surrounded by tuffs.
• There is a calcareous hilly zone, highly permeable and therefore well-drained, and a lowland zone where the soil is composed of clay and silt, which can sometimes cause drainage problems during periods of heavy rainfall.
• Rainfall in the zone is abundant, exceeding 1,200 mm annually, with higher frequency in winter and spring, and the diurnal temperature range in the flat areas can reach 14°C.

• In 1947, twenty-six winegrowers from the area founded the Cantina di Gambellara, whose vineyard area grew from an initial 40 hectares to the current 650 hectares.
• In 1970 the Gambellara zone received DOC status, a recognition that helped spread the zone's reputation, particularly in England and America.
• The hills of Gambellara were already cultivated with schiava vines trained to dry stakes (palo secco) as far back as the time of Ezzelino da Romano in the thirteenth century, the predominant variety for at least two or three centuries on the foothills and feudal estates. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)
• From 1468 onwards, with widespread adoption in the sixteenth century, the Garganega variety began to colonise and in some cases replace schiava on the hills of Gambellara and in the south-eastern Lessini. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)

• The wines Gambellara, Gambellara Classico, Gambellara Superiore, and Gambellara Spumante present a pale straw-yellow colour, a fresh and delicate nose, and a dry, medium-bodied palate with balanced acidity.
• Vin Santo di Gambellara has an intense golden-yellow or amber colour, a fruity nose of ripe and dried fruit, and an intense, persistent, off-dry, soft, and warm palate.
• The colour may range from straw-yellow to deep golden depending on the wine's structure, winemaking approach, and the vineyard sites of origin, with a nose recalling ripe white fruit and white flowers and a palate with the slightly bitter finish typical of Garganega. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)

• In some areas the basaltic substrate prevents roots from penetrating deeply, confining them to the upper layers and thereby enabling the uptake of the mineral compounds responsible for the minerality and savoriness of the wines.
• The low rainfall in the months preceding harvest causes vine stress that concentrates mineral salts, sugars, and aromatic compounds in the berry, adding complexity and highlighting the wine's savoriness and minerality.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Italy

Sources

• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-IT-A0469
• Official trade body site — Consorzio Tutela Vini Gambellara