2023 Tasi In Contact Orange Garganega Veronese IGT Veneto 6pk 6x750ml

Garganega is Veneto's quiet workhorse — the grape behind Soave, usually turned into light, forgettable whites that move volume and little else. But give it skin contact, extended maceration, and volcanic soils, and it becomes something else entirely: an orange wine with grip, minerality, and the kind of textural complexity most whites can't touch.

Tasi comes from three friends — Matteo, Michele, and Mattia — who planted vines in an old limestone quarry in Val d'Illasi, near Verona. The site once fed a cement factory; now it feeds vines with the mineral-rich soil left behind by centuries of extraction. The nearby Colli Euganei hills add volcanic soils — lava, magma, clay, and chalk — giving the fruit a fresh, mineral edge you won't find in the commodity bottles.

The 2023 vintage was hand-harvested in mid-October and macerated on the skins in concrete tanks for 26 days — long enough to pull color, tannin, and phenolic depth from the Garganega. The result is a classic orange wine color with bright amber hue, fresh and fruity on the nose but also nutty with a slight yeast note. Crisp apples, apricot, and a hint of quince hit the palate, juicy with plenty of grip and lovely freshness. Pleasantly light in alcohol at 11.0%, full in aroma, with the kind of volcanic minerality and elegance that makes this drink like something twice the price.