Walter shines a light on an underappreciated haven of white-wine quality and value in north-east Italy.
In a corner tucked away between Lago di Garda to the west and Verona to the east lies Custoza, a hugely promising white-wine area, but one that is still largely flying under the radar. It almost fully overlaps with Bardolino, a denomination with increasingly interesting rosés, called Chiaretto here. Lacking the latter's direct access to the glamorous lake, home of the Riva speedboat and the place of languid, sun-drenched holidays, Custoza is regularly overlooked by tourists rushing to the lake's shore or, in...