Lake Garda in a Glass: Zeni's Bardolino and a Chicken Sausage Pasta

Fall is my most favorite time of the year, especially hear in New England near the mountains of New Hampshire. The foliage here is outstanding!  When our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm, wanted to feature fall Italian wine and food pairings for this month's theme for Italian Food, Wine and Travel (#ItalianFWT) how could I not join despite my lack of free time these days.  I decided to feature a Bardolino wine even though I do tend to recommend these wines as one of those Italian red wines that you very easily can enjoy even in the warmer days.  Let’s take a look at this wine further and how I chose to pair Bardolino with food. 

All about Bardolino 

If you’ve been fortunate enough to visit the Lake Garda territory that sits between the regions of the Veneto and Lombardy wine regions, you may have stumbled across where Bardolino wines come.  The town of Bardolino is located on the southeastern side of Lake Garda and is situated between Peschiera del Garda and Garda.   

Copyright of Consorzio Vini Bardolino

The proximity of this wine territory in Bardolino is rather mild and Mediterranean moderated by Lake Garda and the mountains to the north creating a perfect microclimate for these wines to grow.  The vineyards are set in the hills outside the shoreline made up of ancient glacial morainic soils that are gravelly and full of clay and limestone.  

The Bardolino DOC was established in 1968 and became a Superiore DOCG later in 2001.  You will find a couple of styles of wines grown here.  The Bardolino DOC classic style like the one I’m sharing today and a Chiaretto di Bardolino DOC, which is produced with the same grapes used to make Bardolino, but in a rose style with minimal skin contact.   

Today we’ll focus on the Bardolino DOC wines in particular which can be comprised of three grapes: Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara. These grapes may sound very familiar to you if you’re used to drinking the wines of the Valpolicella wine region since they are the same grapes used in varying degrees to make the wines that hail from the Valpolicella wine territory.  

Although, when these grapes are used to produce Bardolino wines, they tend to be lighter in body, more fresh on the palate with soft tannins, high acidity and red fruits (cherry and red currants).  They are very food friendly as well.  I even recommend giving these wines a slight chill and that is why for red wine drinkers that still want a red wine in the summer, but something that isn’t too heavy, Bardolino is perfect for you! 

This Weeks Wine Selection 

This week I’m sharing the 2024 Zeni Bardolino Classic DOC “Mr. Lake”.  This wine is made from 60% Rondinella and 40% Corvina.  I’m not sure what the “Mr. Lake” represents, but maybe it’s to catch the consumer’s eye representing Lake Garda.  It’s an easy open with a screw cap.  The wine is aged in stainless steel.  A transparent pale ruby color with aromas of bright cherry. This wine is lighter in body, fresh and easy drinking.  Smooth with juicy red fruit with a touch of pepper.  ABV 12.5%, SRP $14 

Food pairing with Bardolino 

As much as I wanted to cook an authentic dish typical of the region to pair with this Bardolino, my schedule had something different in mind.   We‘re on the football field 4-5 nights a week so the fact that we could even enjoy this dish was a pleasure.  No rest for the weary! 

I had some chicken sausage that I wanted to grill up while also utilizing some of the zucchini from my garden.  I decided to make a simple marinara sauce along with pasta to eventually combine all the ingredients together to pair with the Bardolino.  The chicken sausage had a little bit of pepper in it, but complemented the Bardolino just fine.  Bardolino is a wine that I wouldn’t pair with too heavy of a dish, but has the versatility to go with many dishes.   

What’s your experience with Bardolino and do you have a favorite pairing? 

Catch the Italian food and wine writers share their personal picks for this fall. 

• Our Good Life: Apple Picking in Italy: An Easy Fall Apple Cake Recipe  
• Wineivore: Coda di Volpe Paired with Chicken Under a Brick
• Day in the Life on the Farm: Dreaming of Fall in Piedmont 
• Culinary Cam: Embracing Autumn: A Mediterranean Noir, Spaghetti all'Assassina, and Two Bottles of Negroamaro 

You can find Bardolino wines to sample for yourelf at Wine.com. I may receive compensation for any wines purchased through the affiliate link in support of Vino Travels. 

Don't miss out on our upcoming 2nd newsletter coming out in October featuring the Collio wine territory in northeastern Italy bordering Slovenia.  This is exclusive to email subscribers so be sure to not miss out and sign up now! 

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Valentine’s Day Amore: Sharing Luigi Righetti Amarone della Valpolicella

Valentine’s Day doesn’t always mean red roses and candlelit dinners with that special someone.  For me, this year, I celebrated an early Valentine’s Day in a very special way, with the woman who taught me what love was all about, my mom.  My family and I surprised her for her birthday, bringing dinner and dessert while enjoying a special bottle of a 2004 Luigi Righetti Amarone Della Valpolicella.   

As we pulled the cork on this 20-year-old bottle, I couldn’t help but think of all the memories we shared over the years including our travels to this special region of the Veneto where Amarone Della Valpolicella is produced, although this wasn‘t one of the bottles that we brought back with us.  I’m actually still sitting on those and it’s been quite a while since we traveled there together.  More to come on those gems. 

Luigi Righetti winery 

Luigi Righetti winery is located in Valgatara, within the Valpolicella Classico zone, just outside the town of Marano.  Angelo Righetti established the winery back in 1909 and today it is run by the 5th generation, Gianmaria and Giuseppe, along with their father Luigi who is still active in the winery today assisting in running the operations.  Luigi originally took over winemaking in the 40’s.  In 1985 Gianmaria began to focus on single vineyard productions and making wines that would carry an international appeal. 

About Amarone della Valpolicella wines 

The Valpolicella wine region, where Amarone is produced, stretches from Lake Garda in the east that borders Lombardy towards the wine territory of Soave and north of Verona.  Amarone wines are some of the most distinctive and prestigious wines of Italy.  They are powerful, concentrated, structured and complex with a fascinating production process which includes the drying of grapes known as the appassimento process. 

copyright of the Consorzio Tutela Vini Valpolicella

Amarone translates to ”little bitter one”.  Its counterpart from the same region is another wine known as Recioto Della Valpolicella.  While the fermentation process of Amarone carries on for a lengthy time, the fermentation process for the wines of Recioto della Valpolicella is stopped for these wines to retain a higher level of sugar. 

The grapes used in the production of Amarone can vary based on the producer, but include 45-95% Corvina and/or Corvinone for its acidity, body, and cherry flavors, 5-30% Rondinella for its tannin and color and up to 25% of other grapes including Molinara. 

What is the appassimento process? It is the drying process of the grapes that takes place in drying rooms known as the fruttaio where the grapes are laid out in crates or straw mats.  They are left there for about 100-120 days until about the January/February timeframe. This process, as you can imagine, concentrates the sugars and dries the grapes, making them more raisin like.  Following this process, the grapes are then vinified for another 30-50 days for a slow fermentation of the grapes due to the high sugar content.  They are then aged for 2 years in oak or 4 years in oak if they are riserva.  The end result are wines that are dry and complex with a high alcohol content climbing around 15-17%.    

One of the wineries I visited way back showing the appassimento process

How to travel to the Valpolicella wine region 

If you have yet to travel to the Valpolicella wine region, it’s a short trip outside Verona.  To reach it’s southern borders, you are only a few miles outside the city.  To get to the historic heart of the Valpolicella wine region, the Valpolicella Classico zone, it will take you about 20-30 minutes north of Verona into the hills of towns like Marano, Fumane, Negrar, Sant’ Ambrogio di Valpolicella and San Pierre in Cariano to name a few.   

The Wine 

It was interesting to see the bottle of Amarone from Luigi Righetti labeled as an Amarone DOC.  The designation wasn’t upgraded to a DOCG until 2010.   

This bottle of Capitel de’ Roari Amarone was produced from various plots of lands with the best grapes selected for this blend.  The grapes are dried until the January/February time frame and then fermented in steel basins until July/August.  It is then aged for 3 years in part oak barrels and part French barrique. 

The 2004 Luigi Righetti Capitel de’ Roari Amarone DOC Classico was more brick in color, mostly due to its age.  Rich in dried fruits aromas.  Full-bodied with concentrated notes of cherries and raspberries with a slight herbal note.  A solid backbone acidity still stood with over 20 years of age on this wine, and the tannins had become quite silky.  It took some time for this to open up so always make sure you give these wines their due. ABV 15%, SRP $40 (some of the newer bottles I saw were priced) 

I couldn’t find a specific technical sheet on the blend used in this particular vintage, but some of the more recent vintages include 80% Corvina and 20% Rondinella.  For those of you that are savvy 

Amarone wines are highly age worthy, and I've found that no matter the age, they all will benefit with some time opened in advance or watch it evolve in the glass while tasting which is always fun.

This month our World Wine Travel group (#WorldWineTravel) is featuring Valentine wines from around the world.  Read the variety of other selections this Valentine's Day and choose one to try for yourself.

• A Love Letter to Wine by Side Hustle Wino

• Chef's Private Dinner at our Resort in Mexico by Our Good Life

• Fair Verona and the Romance of Valpolicella from Crushed Grape Chronicles

• J'aime partager le vin et la vie avec vous from A Day in the Life on the Farm

• Pretty in Pink: Italian Wines Paired with International Flavors by Culinary Cam 

• Valentine's Day Wines: A Wine for Everyone to Love by Wineivore

You can find other Amarone della Valpolicella wines to try on Wine.com.  I may receive compensation for any wines purchased through the affiliate link in support of the operations of Vino Travels.  

Also, in light of Valentine's Day, if you didn't know I had written a book on my husband and I's wedding that I planned in Tuscany called "Planning Your Dream Wedding in Tuscany".  If you know someone looking to get married in Italy or just want to check it out, you can find it on Amazon for sale. 

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Zucchini Patties Paired with Monte del Fra Chiaretto di Bardolino

Lake Garda in northern Italy is a perfect place to situate yourself for several reasons.  Not only is the area a beautiful place to tour, but you have great accessibility to many great towns in the not too far distance including Verona, Trento, Brescia and Bergamo to name a few.  Plus, you have the benefit of exploring two regions since Lake Garda sits between the Veneto and Lombardy. Not to mention the classic food and wines of both regions surrounding Lake Garda especially.  Today I’m highlighting one of Italy’s finest rosé wines found at Lake Garda, Chiaretto. 

Where is Chiaretto produced?   

You can find Chiaretto wines produced in both the Veneto and Lombardy wine regions along the southern half of Lake Garda, the largest lake in the Veneto.. The name stems from the word Chiaro meaning light or pale color, which is represented in these wines.  They are lighter in comparison to other rosé wines found throughout Italy such as Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo from the Abruzzo region as well as rosé wines from Puglia and Sicily.   

There are a couple types of Chiaretto produced between the Veneto and Lombardy regions. In the Veneto you will find Chiaretto di Bardolino, named after the town of Bardolino located alongside Lake Garda. These wines were granted the Bardolino DOC Chiaretto status in 1968 with a later name change to Chiaretto di Bardolino DOC in 2018.  

The grapes used in producing Chiaretto di Bardolino are the typical red grapes of the Veneto region, including primarily Corvina along with Rondinella and Molinara.  You will also find these grapes in the wines of Valpolicella, Bardolino and Amarone from the surrounding territories.  

Chiaretto di Bardolino appellation - copyright of Consorzio Vini Bardolino

In the Lombardy region you will also find Chiaretto produced in the subzone of Valténesi.   There you will find Chiaretto produced under the Valténesi Chiaretto Riviera del Garda Classico DOC.  These wines differ from their counterpart as the primary grape in these Chiaretto wines is Groppello along with Marzemino, Sangiovese and Barbera.  With both regions the red grapes are gently pressed and spend a short maceration time to produce the pale pink colors. 

The soils are sandy and stony with morainic hillsides.  Due to these morainic soils, you may find some minerality in these wines.  Chiaretto wines are dry and crisp with notes of citrus, red berries and some stone fruit.  They can also be slightly tannic and tend to have a refreshing, vibrant acidity.   

The wine 

I wrote recently about Monte del Fra so you can read more about this winery on my previous blog.  This week I tasted the 2022 Monte del Fra Chiaretto di Bardolino DOC.  This wine is produced around the area of Sommacampagna sitting just east off the southern tip of Lake Garda.  The hills reside at about 350-490 feet above sea level in soils of morainic origin with calcareous clay, gravel and sand.    

The Monte del Fra Chiaretto di Bardolino is a blend of Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara.  The wine spends 24 hours on the skin resulting in a wine with a pale salmon color.  There are aromas of citrus, wild strawberries and a slight herbaceous note.  Fresh and dry on the palate with crisp acidity.  Citrus and red berry flavors with a touch of minerality leave a lengthy, lingering finish.  ABV 12.5%    

Wine Pairing – Chiaretto with Zucchini Patties 

As the weather is warming up here in the northeast I’m getting into my grilling and lighter food fare mindset.  I have been eating a ton of veggies and am expanding my garden this year planting many of my own flowers and vegetables from seeds with my children.  Always a fun activity to partake in and watch them grow!  I’m a huge fan of zucchini and eat it on the regular.  Instead of grilling it or roasting it with some extra virgin olive oil and sea salt I wanted to try making zucchini patties to pair with the Chiaretto. 

This was a simple side dish to prepare and to be honest it also makes a nice lunch alongside some added protein.  I grated about 3-4 smaller zucchinis into a bowl adding a ½ cup of flour, 2 eggs, ¾ cup blend of mozzarella and parmigiano cheese and salt.  Upon mixing the ingredients I formed them into patties and sauteed them in some extra virgin olive oil until brown before flipping a few minutes on each side. I would add a little more flour next time using this many zucchini to thicken the mixture. 

The zucchini patties paired well with the Chiaretto di Bardolino.  Chiaretto tends to be a food friendly wine due to its vibrant acidity.  A light, flavorsome dish paired nicely with the crisp, citrus driven Chiaretto.  

Buon weekend!

You can shop on Wine.com in support of Vino Travels and find Chiaretto wines to try for yourself.

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*This wine was provided as a sample, but opinions are always my own.