Only the wine bottle pictures are mine.... Northern Italy has a depth and breadth of wines with the Veneto leading wine production, by volume, in all of Italy. A little-known wine of Northern Italy, in the DOC of Bardolino is the Rosè - Chiaretto. Chiaretto is a light, fruity, fresh wine with medium salmon color and driven primarily by fresh red fruit.
The DOC/Bardolino Superior DOCG and the Classico region are dominated by the Covina blends similar to those in Valpolicella. In the Bardolino DOC/G, up to 20% of other authorized grapes are allowed in a blend, such as Merlot. Merlot adds red fruit character and is often more ripe, elevating the minimum alcohol levels to the required 10.5% or 11% for superior. As a reminder the Corvina blends include Rondinella, Martinelli and other approved grape varieties with Corvina being 35-80% of the overall blend. Chiaretto is difficult to find so I asked my friend Stefano at La Vite Turchese in Barolo and he sent me the wine shown here and my tasting the notes follow. Background: Veneto, in Northern Italy is warm to moderate continental overall in climate with cooling and moderating influence from streams, rivers, and lakes. In this case-Bardolino is influenced by Lake Garda. A large and deep lake that cools much of the region. Soils are generally fertile overall but elevated sites are less fertility and offer better balance and drainage. Corvina Veronese- Black, vigorous, high yielding, dependable, suitable for a range of line styles, including being ideal for drying and appassionato methods. Well suited to Pergola training systems as air circulation is optimized for disease control. The first few buds do not bear fruit and the pergola provides shade to avoid sun burn on a high number of well positioned clusters. Pergolas also have lower temperature from the shade but can lose more water, offering a unique growing environment. Corvina offers violet, red plum notes with herbal nuances. Rondinella is a black variety that can grow in a range of soils and is relatively disease resistant although Esca is a growing problem. The grape accumulates sugars quickly and is ideal for recioto style wine. Molinari is a key blending grape that is high yielding, less grown, paler in color with high acid, red fruit flavors and adds lightness to the blend… Corvinone is another grape used in the area and has a similar name to Corvina but is not the same grape or a biotype. It has large berries that are susceptible to Downy Mildew and it does not ripen uniformly. This requires staged and repeated hand harvesting in whole bunches to assure quality and adds to cost of labor. Corvinone adds tannins and red fruit flavors to wine blends and it dries well for Appassimento and Recioto styles. I expected a Chiaretto to be made with these grapes but the one I received is produced from 100% Groppello-a local variety grape that is hand harvested in the middle of September. The wine undergoes a 6-hour maceration with whole clusters for color extraction and a hint to spice in the wine. It is fermented and matured in stainless steel to achieve 13% alcohol and about 1 g/l of residual sugar (dry). The wine was bottled in February 2021 and 4458 bottles were produced. TASTING NOTE: The wine is medium salmon in appearance with medium intensity aromas of strawberry, red cherry, violet, rose petal, almond, lemon and lime, fennel, thyme, fresh herbs, and a hint of sea spray. The wine is dry, high acid, medium in body with a very slight phenolic grip. The wine has medium + and intensity flows and a medium + finish. The finish starts with fresh, ripe fruit and transitions to an herbal, almond finish that then evolves further to ends on a dry, acidic note. This is a unique wine of good quality. The wine is well integrated, fresh and fruity. It expresses a surprising intensity of aromas and flavors on the palate but lacks overall concentration and intensity on the nose. The wine has high, refreshing acidity and simple fruity floors. The wine offers subtle levels of depth & complexity that are typical of a good rose but lack precision, clarity & complexity of higher rated wines. The finish is pleasant and falls off to an acidic, dry finish that is typical of on Italian wine of this style.
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