Uncorked: Italian tradition, passion reflected in Gran Passione

Annalisa Botter would like to get back to traveling.

She’s proud and passionate about her Italian heritage, but Gran Passione sells 90% of its wine to foreign countries, and for the past two years, she’s missed the experience of visiting Germany, Australia, northern Europe and the United States.

“For us, the family and our traditions are important,” said Botter, head of marketing and communications for Botter SPA. “We are a little atypical as a wine business family. We have been selling abroad for so many years. We started doing that in the 1960s, and have built friendships in many other places.”

Founded in 1928 by her grandparents, Gran Passione makes wine mostly from Veneto, Puglia and Abruzzo.

“Gran Passione is one of our main brands,” she said. “It’s something we dedicated to our family and friends. ‘Passione’ means special passion, and that’s something we put into everything we do. It’s in our nature in everything we do, even when we talk, we move our hands all over.”

That passion is reflected in the Gran Passione Rosso Veneto IGT 2020 ($13.99), a blend of a local indigenous grape, corvina, and merlot.

The merlot is sourced from the eastern part of their region, while the corvina comes from the Lake Garda area, which is close to Valpolicella. Corvina is one of the main varieties grown there, an area more temperate than other parts of northern Italy. About the later-ripening grape, winemaker Giulio Corbellani said the aromas and sugars have time to get in line.

“Merlot gives structure and mouthfeel,” Corbellani said. “Corvina is grown where there are more pebbles in the terrain, and the texture that comes from there is greater than where the merlot is grown. It gives off a minerality note, and brings the fruit forward, while also giving off a layer of aromas. Corvina has softer delicate tannins, and makes the wine well-rounded – not too bold and in your face. This is a wine that should be easy-drinking.”

Which is what they’ve done with the Gran Passione Rosso Veneto, a fruit-forward, versatile wine that could be paired with a number of foods, cheeses or enjoyed by itself on a cold night while sitting around the fireplace.

“The main aromas in the wine are red, ripe fruit that is fresh – not toward the jammy feel,” Corbellani said. “The minerality adds to that to keep it easy-drinking and not too bold. That’s the main focus of this wine, the corvina portion keeps it fresh. We don’t want to go to appassimento style. It should be fresh-fruit-forward and easy-drinking.”

As the world begins to reopen, Botter is eager to once again share more than wine with people abroad.

“I’m very proud to be Italian,” Botter said. “All the people are always very curious about how we work, what we eat, and love our way of eating, dressing and living. We are proud to go out and show off our tradition and share our culture.”

TASTING NOTES

Damilano Barbera d’Asti 2016 ($15): Beautiful red fruit with a little anise spice on the finish. It’s an easy-drinking, medium-bodied, Italian red that should be bought by the case.

Foxen Williamson-Doré Vineyard Los Olivos District 2018 ($44): Plenty of fruit on the blue fruit spectrum, dried violets, dried roses. Grenache starts to take over with some flowery, sweet black olive salad, pretty blue and black fruit the longer it is open. The wine is 66% grenache, 20% mourvedre and 14% syrah.

Luccarelli Puglia Negroamaro 2019 ($15): Blackberry, plum and dried violets on the nose of the medium-bodied Italian red, with blackberry compote, potpourri spice, tart black cherry and a little iron note on the finish.

Marietta Christo North Coast 2015 ($21): Sweet chocolate nibs, blueberry and finely integrated tannins.

• James Nokes has been tasting, touring and collecting in the wine world for several years. Email him at jamesnokes25@yahoo.com.