Another year comes to a wrap. It has been a great year of wine from around the world with of course our love for Italian wines. Time to say goodbye to 2018 and welcome 2019 with open arms, open minds and an open glass. As I continue to take you on our journey around Italy I also plan to show some highlights from other wine regions outside of Italy to broaden our horizons. I'd appreciate if you could take this quick survey so that I can hear from my readers and find out what you'd like to read more about in 2019.
Here are the top 5 Italian wine blogs of 2018. I hope they were your favorites too!
Thank you all for your support and sharing your passion for Italian wine. Happy New Year and Buon Anno! As always I love to hear from my readers so please leave comments or send me an email at any time! Share with your friends too!
Over the last few weeks I've sampled a number of different rosé, or rosato,
wines from around the world and this month our Italian Food, Wine & Travel group is featuring wines from the area
of Lake Garda that borders both the Veneto and Lombardy northern regions in Italy. In particular we're talking about the wines known as chiaretto, pronounced "key-ah-ret-oh". Lake Garda is actually the largest lake in Italy. The last time I was at Lake Garda was June of 2017 where I took a day trip over to Peschiera del Garda on the southern part of the lake only about 15 minutes by train from Verona.If
you've never been to Lake Garda it's a must see. It's such a beautiful
place to visit with so many great towns along the shores easily
reachable by boat.
My trip to Peschiera del Garda
This area of the Veneto, including Lake Garda, prides itself on their red grapes used in the production of their valpolicella, amarone and bardolino wines. Corvina leads the pack of red grapes followed by molinara and rondinella, all grapes that are alsoused in the production of chiaretto of varying levels.
Chiaretto has been produced in Lake Garda since 1896 started by a lawyer/writer, Pompeo Molmenti, whom owned vineyards on the lake and decided to start producing wine. Today the area produces about 8.5 million bottles.
If you're not familiar with Chiaretto it typically produces wines that are dry, crisp, fresh with a citrus profile touched by red berries. It's named chiaretto after the Italian word chiaro, meaning pale. If you're not familiar with how rosé wines are made, the juice is kept in contact with the red skins for a limited amount of time to impart a hint of pink to the wine. Chiaretto is a wine to be enjoyed in its youth.
I tasted the 2017 Azienda Agricola Valerio Zenato Le Morette Bardolino Chiaretto Classico
and I was very delighted by it mostly because of the balance and
elegance in this wine. It's made of 55% corvina, 35% rondinella and 10%
molinara. It was the best rosé I personally tasted recently (personal preference of course).It
was very pale pink in color. There were citrus notes on the nose. A
light-bodied wine that was nicely balanced with fruit, acidity and a little saltiness. Most prevalent on the finish were fresh strawberries and raspberries.
12% ABV
The winery is located in San Benedetto di Lugana located between Lake Garda and Lake Frassino. The winery is named after a species of wild duck, called le morette, that live along Lake Frassino. They were chosen for their elegance and beauty and the deep respect for nature and the environment.It was started 60 years back by Gino Zenato and his main purpose for the land was the production of vines, in addition to producing wines on the side for himself. His son, Valerio, took over the business in 1981 producing wines for distribution to the market. Today the winery is run by the 3rd generation, Fabio and Paolo, that strives to complete the vision of their grandfather. And so
the legacy continues. One of the things I love about Italian wines is
the history and stories behind each and every winery and how the next
generations continue on the dream and mission of their founding fathers.
I also tasted the 2017 Cantina Caorsa BardolinoChiaretto Classico.
This is actually a cooperative of about 350 members owned by the
North-east Agricultural Consortium that began in 1987. I unfortunately
couldn't locate too much information on this winery, but enjoyed this
wine also. It's a blend of primarily corvina at 60% with 20% rondinella, 10% molinara and 10% merlot. A deeper pink in comparison to the Le Morette and a rather smooth, light-bodied wine bright with red berries. 12.5% ABV
Join
me and my fellow writers in the #ItalianFWT group to discover even more
about Chiaretto di Bardolino on Twitter, Saturday July 7 at 11 am/EST.
Here's what we'll talk about:
*Wines
provided as samples thankfully by the Consorzio Tutela Vino Bardolino
DOC, but opinions are my own. Information and most pictures sourced
from Chiaretto.
Many of us are familiar with some of
the larger, well-known lakes through Italy including Lake Como, Lake
Garda, Lake Maggiore and maybe even Lake Bolsena or Lake Trasimeno.
Over the last few weeks I've been highlighting some specific towns
within Italy including Rome and
Bergamo as part of the
#hipmunkcitylove project as I always love talking about Italian
travel, especially those that I have visited. In order to stay true
to what my blog is all about I felt it was most appropriate to also
discuss perfect day trips to local wine regions for visitors to get a
true sense of the area's local wines.
Today I'm showcasing the town of
Sirmione, Italy that I visited back in 2009. Sirmione is a
really neat town located on the southern part of Lake Garda. It
issituated on a peninsula that juts out into the lake.
Lake Garda is the largest lake within Italy and touches a few
regions within Italy including Lombardy, the Veneto and Trentino-Alto
Adige. The northern part of Lake Garda is more mountainous where the
southern part is made up of morainic hills formed by the glacial
forms.
Town of Sirmione, Italy
The town of Sirmione is located in the
province of Brescia in the Lombardy region. I love in Italy
when I enter towns that are surrounded by walls or fortresses, and
there are many of them, as I feel like I'm stepping back into
ancient, medieval times. Upon arriving in Sirmione you can park
your care and enter through the fortress walls surrounded by an
ancient moat to access the old historic city center. There are some
very interesting attractions within the city including the Grotte
di Catullo, which is an ancient Roman villa where you roam
through the archeological ruins.
There is the opportunity to also
visit the museum inside to scope out the objects that were excavated.
In addition, there is also a neat little climb up the Rocca
Scaligera di Sirmione. It's a
castle that provides great views over the town and peninsula,
as well as the water. With many other attractions to see including
beaches, thermal baths, and quaint, peaceful churches there is plenty
to satisfy your needs in the town of Sirmione.
Rocca Scaligera di Sirmione
View from the top of Rocca Scaligera in Sirmione
Rocca Scaligera di Sirmione
Rocca Scaligera di Sirmione
For you wine lovers the closest wine
region is Bardolino, named after the town, that is within
reach of Sirmione located on the southeastern shores of Lake Garda.
If you're familiar with the Valpolicella wines of the Veneto,
Bardolino is made of a blend of the same grapes corvina,
rondinella, and molinara. The
main difference is that it's alighter style red wine
that is less tannic and less alcoholic than the wines of
valpolicella. For some of the best of this particular wine region
seek out a Bardolino Superior Classico DOCG.
I hope you get a chance to visit this wonderful
area as it's very accessible to many other great places to visit
including Verona, Brescia, Mantova, etc.. Have you had the wines of Bardolino vs. Valpolicella?
