It was a delight to spend time last week with L’Arco Wine proprietor and winemaker Luca Fedrigo.

Luca Fedrigo

Close to sell-out crowds enjoyed more than a half dozen wines and matched courses during dinners at Elizabeth on 37th and Noble Fare. A tasting event held Friday night at Johnnie Ganem Package Shop was already bustling by the time I slipped out at 6:30 p.m.

“I’m a young man,” Fedrigo told me. “But my wines are old.”

Indeed, some of the L’Arco portfolio spends as much as four years in Slovania oak, which is harvested from forests in Croatia. Unlike French or American oak, this species imparts very little flavor to the wines but serves as a perfect aging vessel for the classic Valpolicella styles. These are wines of remarkable integrity — and the highest praise goes to Fedrigo for devotion to the art — and importer Steve Lawrence for nuturing this talented young man.

Thanks to Steve Lawrence of Terra Verus Imports for arranging the visit and Russell Krautheim of Ultimate Distributors for coordinating Fedrigo’s Savannah appearances.