Veneto

Cantina Martinelli works just two hectares of vineyards in Fittà, high in the hills of Soave.

Their east-facing Garganega vines sit around 350 metres above sea level on volcanic basalt. Some of the oldest parcels were planted in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Rather than making one expression of Garganega, Martinelli keeps pushing the grape in different directions.

Gargantua is the cleanest introduction: fresh acidity, savoury minerality and enough texture to keep things interesting.

Leviatano adds gentle bottle-fermented bubbles.

Pantagruele comes from older vines and spends extended time on its lees for a rounder, slower style.

Then there is Neanderthal — long skin contact and amphora take Garganega firmly into structured orange-wine territory.

One grape is enough to make the point: place matters, but winemaking changes everything.

Terre di Pietra began in 2007 in a small garage in the hills of upper Valpolicella.

Today the winery works individual vineyards separately, focusing on the character of each site rather than forcing every bottle into one house style.

Here, the familiar local red grapes — Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Molinara — can look very different from the heavy Veneto red people sometimes expect.

Piccola Peste is bright, fresh and easy to chill.

Tempesta keeps the same local grape family soft, juicy and direct.

Other vineyards can produce deeper, more structured expressions.

The lesson is simple: Valpolicella grapes don’t only have one setting.