Earlier this year I attended a virtual tasting hosted by Studio Cru featuring the wines of the Maculan winery located in the Veneto wine region of northeastern Italy. Angela Maculan, 4th generation operating the winery today, walked us through several wines that the winery produces with a fantastic overview of the territory. I want to focus on a special dessert wine, Torcolato, that I had been unfamiliar with prior to the tasting. Torcolato is not only a special wine that Maculan produces, but it is also unique to this particular area of the Veneto, within the territory of Breganze.
About the Maculan winery
The Maculan family’s wine beginnings started with the great grandfather, Gaetano, whom used to sell wine that he made at his little osteria in the 20’s and 40’s. During World War II his son, Giovanni, started to make wine with his father to provide it for the army station. In 1947 Giovanni decided to start and build the winery we know today, Maculan.
In 1973 Fausto Maculan took over the winery. Fausto was encouraged by his father to attend the School of Oenology Conegliano to be a winemaker. He first started leasing the land to produce wine until he later purchased it. Fausto was joined by his two daughters, Angela that joined in 1997 and Maria Vittoria that joined in 2007.
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| Maria Vittoria, Fausto and Angela Maculan |
Maculan is located in Breganze, a town in the northern part of the Veneto region about 1 hour northeast of Verona and North of Vicenza. The winery sits at the base of the Asiago Plateau right in the center of town close to the main piazza.
Maculan winery
This area is mostly warm with cooling breezes that come down from the Dolomites. The soils of the area are poor, low in nutrients, and are made up of clay, silt and volcanic rock. Irrigation isn’t allowed and the soil provides great drainage.
Maculan vineyards
Maculan works with several native and international grape varietals. These international varietals were introduced by the noble Venetian families in the 1800’s. The main grapes that Maculan produces are Vespaiola, Chardonnay, Sauvignon, the white grape Tai, Merlot, Cabernet, Pinot Noir and Marzemino. The grapes are hand harvested, and many of the grapes are estate grown, but some are purchased from farmers they have had lasting relationships with for the last 20-25 years.
What is Torcolato?
Torcolato is rich dessert wine made 100% from the white grape, Vespaiola. The name stems from the word vespa, meaning wasps in Italian, that are attracted to the sweetnessof these grapes. This grape has historically been documented as far back as 1754.
Torcolato is golden in color and is made as a passito style, where the grapes are dried before fermentation creating luscious aromas and mouthfeel with notes of fruits (tropical and stone fruits), including dried fruits and honey. They’re full-bodied and have sweet, concentrated flavors with high levels of sugar backed by good acidity to prevent these wines from becoming cloying.
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| rosoli |
The Wine
The Torcolato is the dessert wine that the Maculan treasures. The 2022 Maculan Torcolato is made from the Vespaiola grape. Rich golden color with amber hues. It has an unctuous texture, round on the palate with notes of honey and dried apricots. A tasty treat that lingers on the finish. SRP $42 (per wine searcher).
Maculan is a large producer of Torcolato in the Breganze DOC producing about 17,000 of the 20-25,000 bottles produced in this area. They make 4 different styles of Vespaiola based wines to explore.
If you’re a lover of dessert wines this is one you’ll want to explore.
Importer: Massanois Imports