Mito — myth, legend. It is a name that carries weight, and Monte Tondo’s Soave earns it. Soave is one of Italy’s most ancient and storied white wine appellations — a medieval walled town east of Verona in the Veneto, where the Garganega grape has been cultivated on the volcanic basalt hillsides of the Classico zone for centuries, producing whites of a quite distinctive elegance, minerality, and aromatic delicacy that at their best are among the finest expressions of Italian white wine. Monte Tondo is one of Soave’s most dedicated and respected producers, farming their hillside vineyards with a commitment to quality and a deep understanding of the Garganega grape that is evident in every bottle. The Mito is their purest expression of the variety and the terroir: a Soave of real refinement and character, with a delicate nose of almond blossom — that most distinctive and beguiling of Garganega’s aromatic signatures — that is immediately and completely captivating. On the palate it is clean and precise, with beautifully balanced acidity and the characteristic Soave minerality that speaks directly of the volcanic soils of the hillside vineyards and gives the wine a focus and persistence that sets it apart from the flatter, less interesting Soave of the plains. A really well-executed wine — and at £15.49, a genuinely compelling introduction to Soave at its most authentic and characterful.