Le Morette Perseo Veneto Rosso I.G.T.

Le Morette's Perseo is a Veneto Rosso I.G.T. built on the same ~6 hectares of glacial-moraine clay in Lazise that the Zenato family has farmed since around 1960 — the same soils that underpin their Bardolino Classico program, where compact, chalky marly clay of glacial origin keeps vine vigour in check and drives aromatic precision over weight. The blend is 55% Corvina, 35% Rondinella, and 10% Molinara, the traditional Bardolino triumvirate, trained to cordon at 3,800 plants per hectare. Vinification is deliberately reductive: destemmed fruit, gentle pressing, and fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel — no oak contact, no malolactic softening of the variety's natural red-fruit lift. The result is a wine that sits in open opposition to the richer, dried-fruit weight of Valpolicella produced just kilometres to the east. What makes Perseo unusual within the Veneto red category is the producer's explicit positioning of lightness as a technical achievement rather than a compromise — the same philosophy that drives Le Morette to avoid all synthetic chemicals in the vineyard to protect the UNESCO-listed Frassino Lake tufted-duck habitat adjacent to their estate. Drink young, with a slight chill if desired.