Why it matters
The producer
Monte del Frà works across Custoza, Valpolicella, and Soave from a hillside property south of Lake Garda that the Bonomo family has worked since 1958. That breadth is unusual. Most estates in this part of northeastern Italy anchor to one denomination. Monte del Frà works in Custoza, Valpolicella, and Soave simultaneously, with Custoza Superiore Ca' del Magro, which has held Gambero Rosso Tre Bicchieri recognition for twelve consecutive years.
The Custoza Superiore Ca' del Magro is that bottle. It takes grapes from the oldest parcels on the Monte del Frà hill, carries the Superiore designation within the Custoza DOC, and has held Gambero Rosso Tre Bicchieri recognition for twelve consecutive years. Tre Bicchieri is Gambero Rosso's annual top tier, awarded to a small fraction of the wines submitted for review each year. Ca' del Magro also appeared in Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2021. The estate's third-generation voice, Marica Bonomo, frames the house position plainly: the winemaker is not the protagonist. The wines are made to carry terroir forward, not individual technique.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Custoza is a white blend DOC in the southern Veneto, lying between the eastern shore of Lake Garda and the city of Verona. It is built around local Veronese grape varieties rather than the international varieties that dominate much of northern Italy's commercial wine production. The lake moderates temperatures on the surrounding hills, keeping nights cool through the growing season and slowing ripening enough to preserve acidity in the grapes.
The Monte del Frà hill sits within this DOC, and the Custoza appellation is what the estate's best wine is named for. The Ca' del Magro is not a village name or a vineyard name; it is the Superiore-level cuvée from the estate's oldest parcels within Custoza. The Ca' del Magro label points to a specific tier within the appellation: higher minimum alcohol, longer ageing, and hand-selected fruit.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The Ca' del Magro is made from hand-selected grapes drawn from the oldest parcels on the Monte del Frà hill. Within the Custoza DOC, the Superiore category requires a higher minimum alcohol level and a longer ageing period than the standard Custoza bottling. Hand selection at harvest means the blend is built from the most developed fruit, not the full parcel yield, which concentrates the aromatic depth and the texture of the finished wine.
The Custoza blend draws on Garganega, Trebbiano Toscana, Cortese, and Incrocio Manzoni. Blending these varieties rather than bottling single-grape wines is the Custoza DOC's defining character.
Wines to know
The range in view
The Ca' del Magro sits at the top of the Custoza range. Below it, the estate produces a standard Custoza Bianco DOC from the same appellation's grape mix, with less selection and shorter ageing. The Superiore level narrows the fruit sourcing to the oldest Monte del Frà parcels and extends the cellar time, which shows in a rounder texture and more developed aromatic complexity than the entry Custoza.
Start with the Custoza Superiore Ca' del Magro. It is a white blend from the oldest parcels on the Monte del Frà hill, made from Garganega, Trebbiano Toscana, Cortese, and Incrocio Manzoni under the Custoza DOC's Superiore rules. The wine is dry, hand-selected, and aged longer than the standard Custoza. Twelve consecutive Gambero Rosso Tre Bicchieri place it clearly at the estate's top, but at Custoza prices it sits far below what equivalent critical recognition commands in Barolo or Barbaresco.