On the Road with the Grape Guy
The Podcast Plus: Ponte1948
30 Jun 2023- Details
- Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
(February 2023) ... Meeting with Gabriele Fasan from Ponte 1948 at Mike's Back Door in Mississauga, for a podcast about the winery – with a big thank you to J. Cipelli and Dana Pancer, listen here or read below (My recommendation ... Do Both)
Ponte1948 is a co-op winery with plenty of excellent wines in their portfolio. We started with sparkling wine, which was the highlight of the tasting, followed by a couple of reds and whites.
Ponte has over 3000 hectares and 1000 family vineyards that are spread out along the River Piave in such areas as Treviso, Venice and the Dolomites. They have over 70 years of history - enhenced by the 1948 that follows in their name.
60,000 tons of grapes are collected annually, 1.6 million cases of wine produced and five wine shops (Enoteche di Ponte) - wouldn't that be nice ... I speak here to the smaller wineries in Ontario who do not have this option.
Under their purview, 53% of the grapes grown are Prosecco (aka Glera), 25% Pinot Grigio, 5% Chardonnay, 5% Merlot, 2% Cabernet (Franc) as well as other varieties that are in the mix.
As for the wine's tasted:
In all honesty, those Proseccos we drank were a delight from the base-model ($17.95) with the Blue Label to the Organic ($19.95) green label - which to be honest are the same wine just using a different growing method. The Orange Label is their vintage version. At this tasting it was the 2021, and it has 15% Chardonnay - pure joy on the palate and probably the one we most sat around and drank for fun afterwards ($22.95) . While the Valdobbiadene, 100% Glera, was a brut style with plenty of mineral goodness ($24.95). Pour either of the last two wines and you'd probably fool 75% of your friends into thinking they are drinking a higher priced traditional method bubble.
Because Andre was involved, a Chardonnay had to be on the table and for the same reason, a Sauvignon Blanc showed up as well. For those not familiar with the podcast, Andre has a love-hate relationship with these grapes: he loves Chardonnay, hates Sauvignon Blanc. Both wines were good from a quality price ratio stand point..
Also part of the Gio series of wines (the whites above were also part of this series) We tasted a 2021 Cabernet Franc / Cabernet Sauvignon blend; Cabernet Franc is big in this area, but finds its way into blends more times than not; and a Merlot, Refosco, Cabernet Franc blend, where 10% of the wine is dried / namely the Refosco. Again, both wines offer up good quality to value ratio.
To learn more about Ponte1948 - listen to the podcast here.
