By Neil Duarte

Recently, my friends at Colangelo Partners sent me two different wines to taste from Pasqua Vigneti e Cantine in Verona. The Pasqua winery has been a family owned and run operation for almost 100 years.

The family is very innovative and works with artists worldwide to create wine projects, including novel wine labels. Colangelo sent one wine from the Veneto in the far north of Italy and a second wine from Puglia on the southeastern Adriatic tip of the country.

Here are the results of these tastings:

The first wine was a 2021 Edizione Speciale di Pasqua ZIN IGT, a 13.5% alcohol 100% Primativo grape offering. The ZIN was produced from hand picked grapes that were gently pressed. Prefermentation maceration then took one week followed by alcoholic fermentation at 22-26°C for 15-20 days. The ZIN was then aged for 6 months in wooden barrels. The resulting wine was a ruby color with a light fruit nose. It finished medium and smooth. I rated it an 89/90 and felt it was a nice Primativo wine.

Our second wine was a 2020 Passimento Rosso Veneto IGT, a 14% alcohol selection made from 40% Merlot, 30% Corvina and 30% Crotina grapes. These grapes were air dried in wooden crates to lose 30% of the water content while raising the sugar content. Vinification was in stainless steel tanks with blending at the end of the process. Aging in oak tonneau followed for 3 months. The Passimento had a dark ruby color with a pleasant fruit nose. It finished medium and very smooth. I liked this wine and rated it a 90/91. It would be a great wine to pair with pizza.

My thanks go to the folks at Colangelo Partners and Pasqua Vigneti for providing me the opportunity to sample these wines.

One of the Pasqua Vigneti wines. PHOTO BY TERRI DUARTE.