Opening a Bardolino is like a trip to Lake Garda in a bottle

By Gina Trippi

Sometimes called the Italian Riviera, a resort location for the rich and famous, Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy surrounded by stunning landscape, spectacular cuisine and some of the most enjoyable wines in the country.

Lake Garda sits in northern Italy between Brescia and Milan to the west and Verona and Venice to the east, cutting into the Italian Alps.

Located in Veneto, the town of Bardolino, with its ancient stone buildings and cobblestone paths just feet from clear blue water, is one of the most charming of the medieval villages that surround Lake Garda. Just a short way into the Italian countryside, the landscape changes to the green of cypress trees, olive groves and vineyards.

The soils of lake Garda are rocky and rich resulting from glacial activity years ago. Bardolino wine appellation lies to the east and south of Lake Garda in the Veneto.

Farther east lies Valpolicella, home to better known Ripasso and Amarone wines. In contrast to these intense wines, the glacial soils of Bardolino give rise to light and delicate, even chillable, red wines.

Bardolino wines are preferred by Chefs in Lake Garda for their versatility and ability not just to pair but also to complement a variety of flavors. The Bardolino we offer at Metro wines Le Fraghe, is the classic combination of Corvina and Rondinella.

Corvina adds weight to the wine as well as providing a sour cherry aroma and flavor while Rondinella provides the characteristic herbal flavor. Made from 15-year-old vines, the two grape varietals are vinified separately and fermented in steel tanks where the wine rests until spring when it is bottled.

Le Fraghe is owned by Matilde Poggi who grew up in a grape growing family. By age 22, she was planting indigenous grapes including Garganega, Corvina, and Rondinella. Her vineyards have always been farmed organically and she uses mostly concrete to age the wines preserving the brightness of the grapes.

“I grow grapes and make wine in Cavaion Veronese, in the heart of the Bardolino production zone. My first harvest was in 1984. Even as a young child I remember hearing the conversations about vines and wine, and I can recall those Octobers, when we went right from school to harvesting the grapes,” says Matilde.

Le Fraghe Bardolino is purple rimmed with ruby. The bouquet is a basket of fruit including sweet-sour cherry and blueberry, spicy cinnamon and black pepper. The wine presents a medium to full body with soft tannins and a pleasing balance between acid and flavors leading into a lingering finish.

You can be confident in pairing this chillable red wine with light poultry and fish such as trout, halibut and cod, as well as mushrooms, lentils and fava beans, burrata and flavor addition including lemon and capers.

Break open a bottle of Bardolino and live the Lake Garda life at home.

Metro Wines Asheville

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