Monte Tondo: The Soave Estate That Makes the Case for Garganega
Started in 1979. Thirty-two hectares in the hills above Soave. A grape most people have drunk without noticing, and five wines from $21 to $115.
Soave has an image problem it did not entirely earn. For decades the name sat on a great deal of cheap wine, most of it grown on the flat valley floor east of Verona where yields are generous and the soil says very little. The hills behind the town are a different proposition. They are volcanic in places and limestone in others, the vineyards are steep enough to be worked by hand, and the wine that comes off them has the one thing flatland Soave never had: a sense of where it is from.
Monte Tondo sits in those hills. The Magnabosco family started it in 1979, Gino Magnabosco built it into its present shape, and his daughter Marta now works alongside him. The estate runs to about thirty-two hectares, roughly twenty-two of them in Soave Classico and the remaining ten over the back of the hill in Valpolicella. Everything is dry-farmed and hand-picked, and the vineyards are farmed organically without the estate having gone through certification.
What Classico actually means
Soave and Soave Classico are not grades of quality, they are places. Classico is the original zone, the hills immediately around Soave and Monteforte d'Alpone that were growing Garganega long before the DOC expanded onto the plain. A wine labelled simply Soave can come from anywhere in the wider appellation. A wine labelled Soave Classico has to come from the old hill ground.
Monte Tondo makes both, and the pair is the most useful $50 you can spend on understanding Italian white wine. The Soave at $21 is the open, fruit-forward version. The Soave Classico at $29 is tighter and saltier, and it finishes longer. Same grape, same family, same cellar.
The grape: Garganega has to make up at least 70% of any Soave, and both of these are 100% of it. It ripens late, holds acidity, and leaves a faint bitter-almond note on the finish that is the easiest way to recognise it blind. Neither wine sees oak. The Classico spends about three months in steel before bottling, at 12.5% alcohol, from roughly thirty thousand bottles a year.
Then the other side of the hill
The ten hectares in Valpolicella give the reds, built on the Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara blend that the Veneto has used for centuries. San Pietro is the fresh version, a wine to drink young and even lightly chilled. The Amarone is the same fruit after appassimento, the grapes dried on racks until the sugars concentrate, which is how a medium-weight red blend turns into something rich, raisined and faintly oxidative. The Recioto di Soave takes the white grapes through the same drying process and ends up sweet.
| Wine | Price | Window | In brief |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soave 2025 | $21 | Now–2030 | 100% Garganega. Pear, citrus, white flowers, a flick of almond. |
| Soave Classico 2025 | $29 | Now–2031 | The old hill zone. Tighter, saltier, longer. |
| San Pietro Valpolicella 2024 | $37 | Now–2030 | Corvina blend. Sour cherry and violets, light enough to chill. |
| Nettare di Bacco Recioto di Soave 2024 | $46 | Now–2034 | Dried Garganega, sweet. Honey, apricot, candied citrus. |
| Amarone della Valpolicella 2019 | $115 | Now–2038 | Appassimento. Dried cherry, raisin, sweet spice, tobacco. |
Five to start with
2025 Soave
NoseWhite flowers, ripe pear and citrus with a little exotic fruit and the usual hint of almond.
PalateLight to medium-bodied, crisp and smooth. Lemon, green apple and stone fruit over a fine mineral edge to a clean dry finish.
CellarDrink now – 2030 · Peak now – 2028 · Serve 8–10°C
The smarter answer to Pinot Grigio at the same money, and the house white to buy by the case. Steel only, so nothing between you and the grape. Grilled prawns, seafood pasta, oysters.
2025 Soave Classico
NoseLime, green apple and exotic fruit with wild fennel, fresh almond, hazelnut and a faint peppery lift.
PalateLively and dry, juicy citrus and orchard fruit on crisp acidity with a distinct saline edge. Medium-light but full of flavour, finishing on lime, herbs and wet stone.
CellarDrink now – 2031 · Peak 2027 – 2029 · Serve 9–11°C
Eight dollars more than the Soave and a clear step up in tension and length. Buy one of each, open them side by side, and the whole Classico argument settles itself. Risotto, grilled fish, antipasti.
2024 San Pietro Valpolicella
NoseViolets and roses over red cherry and sour cherry, with a touch of spice.
PalateBalanced and fresh rather than heavy, with clear varietal definition and just enough structure to hold a plate of food.
CellarDrink now – 2030 · Peak now – 2028 · Serve 14–16°C
The Italian answer for anyone who reaches for Pinot Noir. Light, savoury, and good slightly chilled in summer, which is not something you can do with most reds at this price. Pizza, charcuterie, grilled meats.
2024 Nettare di Bacco Recioto di Soave
NoseHoney, apricot, peach and candied citrus with flowers, almond and dried fruit.
PalateFull-bodied and sweet with a silky texture, held in shape by fresh acidity. Ripe stone fruit, honey and a little spice into a long, velvety finish.
CellarDrink now – 2034 · Peak now – 2032 · Serve 10–12°C
The same grape as the two whites above, dried on racks until it concentrates. Sweet wine that stays fresh rather than cloying, which is the hard part. Fruit tarts, crème brûlée, or blue cheese.
2019 Amarone della Valpolicella
NoseDried cherry, plum and raisin with dried flowers, sweet spice and a little tobacco. Rich and faintly oxidative in the classic way.
PalateFull and layered, carrying its weight on dried fruit and spice rather than sheer alcohol, with a long savoury close.
CellarDrink now – 2038 · Peak 2028 – 2034 · Decant 1–2 hrs
If you like Barossa Shiraz but want something more savoury and more Italian, this is the bottle. A winter wine and a good gift. Braised beef, lamb, game, aged cheese, or an armchair.
Where to go from here
The full range sits on the Monte Tondo collection page, and the wider region is under Veneto and Italy. If Garganega works for you, the next step is usually Chablis, which does the same trick of mineral tension over citrus from a very different grape: our Chablis guide covers where to start. For the sweet end, the Recioto sits alongside Sauternes in our Sauternes range, at a third of the price.
Shop the Monte Tondo collection →
After the single-vineyard Soaves or an older Amarone? info@winemore.com.au · Wine More Cellars, Chadstone