If you think of rosé from a global standpoint you probably think of Provence.
Justifiably!
Well the small area in Italy & the Consorzio Valtènesi want you to know that they are the OTHER rosé wine region that you also need to know about.
Where Provence produces 200 million bottles of rosé annually, Valtènesi makes 2 million bottles.
Much smaller in scale, but would it surprise you to learn that the two associations have been working together and presenting their wines that events together for the last 5 or so years?
Provence has been taking the Valtènesi region under its wing to help the growers in Valtènesi realize what they have for quality and how to make the most of it.
Vintners In Valtènesi have been making rosé since Roman times, and officially from 1896 the region was making wine with its tradition of “wine of a night” where it is gently pressing grapes and leaving them with the skins for a few hours or up to overnight to obtain the famous pale pink color. This method lives on today and now in the now famous “Chiaretto Valtènesi”.
A small group of us attending the Wine Media Conference converged at the Consortium headquarters, met the association president Alessandro Luzzago (proprietor of Le Chiusure) and tasted through 57 examples from the region (before visiting some wineries).
(And for those in my feed who are not wine professionals, yes we spit out every wine we taste!)
Most made from the indigenous Grapello grape, which could probably be most compared to Pinot Noir, or made from a blended combination of Gropello, Marzemino, Sangiovese and Barbera.
The vintners first focus on getting a quality wine, with the colour to follow thereafter. So you will see various shades of pink across the region’s offerings.
Flavours range from being berry-forward to being more floral on the nose, and on the palate you can have anything from citrus and melon and berry but what carries through for all of them for sure is this string of minerality that is generated from the gravelly soil‘s they have in their lakeside glaciated morainic terroir.
You’ll have to seek these wines out if you’re in Italy. Ask for Valtènesi.
There is some disbursement of these wines around the world but because they make so few of them they’re definitely ones you will have to seek out.
And if you’re planning a visit to Italy then include Lake Garda in your plans and you can visit the region.
