Teroldego wine guide
Teroldego is the main red grape variety of Trentino, a noble and sumptuous wine with elegance and an excellent propensity for aging.
It is not a subtle and mysterious wine. On the contrary, the fruit’s aromatic richness and maturity make it complex and explosive.
But you had already guessed all these qualities of greatness from the name: the gold of Tyrol, a name given to it in the past centuries not so much for the refinement of the stroke but more for the great vigor when wine was still considered “nutrition” and not an exercise of aesthetics.
The great Teroldegos are hard to find. The oaked fruit bomb with those chewy tones of cloying jam is always around the corner, but it’s pure joy when you find the excellent ones because they are among the best Italian red wines.
They are splendid frescoes of a thousand colors, and thanks to the progression of tannins, they are never bland or predictable, especially after long aging in wood, which rounds the fruit and makes the wine evolve, adding spices and austerity.
Teroldego: a stallion not easy to tame
All of this—the powerful tannins, the extract, and the excellent acidity—makes it a difficult wine to manage, not to mention the alcoholic content.
In practice, it is a wine with all the possible characteristics brought to the nth degree. It is up to the winemaker to choose the right path and keep the wine on track.
With Teroldego, you can make fragrant and irresistible pink wines for the summer, honest and affordable wines for your summer grill parties, and outstandingly structured wines that can age for 20 years in the cellar.
With all these possibilities, you will indeed find the Teroldego that best suits your taste, but be careful. The path is littered with mines.
As mentioned above, thanks to its vigor, Teroldego is a vine that can handle mule productions and the bottles sold at 3.5 euros are proof of this.
Teroldego production area
Its natural home is the Piana Rotaliana, a beautiful plain surrounded by the Dolomites. There, it is able to thrive in a way that no other place can. However, it is such a widely used vine that you will find it in many vineyards in Trentino.
Organoleptic characteristics of Teroldego
The color is dark and dense. The fruity aromas are of ripe cherries, blueberries, and wild berries in profusion, accompanied by sweet spices, cocoa, pepper, and bitter suggestions such as cinchona, licorice, and rhubarb, as befits a markedly tannic wine.
The palate is warm, broad with a robust structure and fruity intensity, made dynamic by good acidity. Thundering persistence.
At this point, those of you who have been paying attention will have noticed the similarities with Lagrein, the loved-and-hated rival who rules over the border and is feared by everyone.
If we want to say so, the two are cousins. The latest genetic analyses have shown that Lagrein and Teroldego come from Pinot Noir. Over the centuries, it has changed and adapted, becoming a completely different grape variety, even if the matrix is common.
Food Pairings
If it is rosé, combine it with sushi or seafood. If it is a simple wine, use it to elevate baked lasagna or tagliatelle with bolognese sauce.
On the other hand, if it is structured and has a few years on its shoulders, combine it with chicken curry, ribs with barbecue sauce, roast beef, pulled pork, empanadas, hamburgers Wellington fillet.
