The Teroldego Grape

(Synonyms: Merlina, Teroldega, Teroldeghe, Teroldico, Teroldigo, Tiraldega, Tirodola, Tiroldegho, Tiroldigo.)

Background

Teroldego is a red-wine grape originating in the Trentino region of Italy—more specifically, in the “Campo Rotaliano”, an alluvial plain between the rivers Adige and Noce. To this day, that plain is regarded as the best site for the increasingly respected Terodelgo grape. (Though nowadays Teroldego acreage in California is steadily increasing.)

(Incidentally, the wine name is pronounced te-ROL-de-go; don’t mis-place the accent.)

Teroldego wines are quite dark in appearance, but soft and quite fruity on the palate; the fruit—of a red-fruit quality—is often overlaid with earthy, almost smoky qualities, and some spiciness. It has suficient acidity to present as fresh and bright, balancing the fruit, and has a fair amount of tannins. It does not need much aging, but can stay solid for many years, up to a decade or more for well-made specimens. The wine tends to finish with a slight bitterness (much valued by Italians and not a few others).

Factoid: Teroldego comes from a good family, so to speak: DNA testing has showed it to be a parent of Lagrein, and a sibling of Dureza, a parent of Syrah. It is possibly also related to Pinot Noir.

Some Descriptions of Teroldego Wines

Wikipedia
“Some California authorities compare Teroldego to Zinfandel, with its spicy red fruits, and hints of tar, pine, and almond, but few tasters would confuse the two varieties in a blind tasting. Its snappy acidity makes it a versatile food wine.”
Wine Searcher
“This variety produces deeply pigmented red wines with an intensely fruity character, a style that has become something of an icon for Trentino’s wine industry. It is soft and needs very little aging, usually being drunk within three years of bottling, though it can cellar well for up to 10 years…There is just one DOC for varietal Teroldego wines: Teroldego Rotaliano. The Campo Rotaliano is a sandy, gravelly plain historically regarded as the best site for the variety. As such, it is one of the few site – and variety – specific appellations in Italy.”
Eric Asimov, The New York Times
[Speaking of a particular bottling.] “The wine is dark garnet, almost purple but not inky, with the aroma of dark fruit layered with smoke and earth. On the palate it is fresh and lively, with just the right amount of cleansing bitterness to leave the mouth refreshed. Unusually, when you swallow, the lingering effect is of texture rather than flavor. You feel the pleasant reminder of its light tannic grip.”
Beppi Crosariol, The Globe and Mail
“Teroldego's sketchy etymology notwithstanding, there seems to be no question as to where the grape's reputation is headed: up. To call it popular would be a stretch, if only because there’s still not much teroldego around. But the red variety certainly has experienced a revival. Recently discovered to be an aunt (or uncle) of peppery syrah thanks to genetic testing, the grape is darkly coloured and usually firm with astringent tannins and bright with acidity. The wine can also be earthy and appetizingly bitter.”
Winetraveler
“Since the grape is deeply colored, it has historically been blended for hue and depth to wines throughout Italy. Despite its dark color, Teroldego produces wines that have bright fruit notes, like cranberry and pomegranate, blended in with blackberry and raspberry. Expect spicy pepper, a hint of cinnamon or anise, and black earthiness in there as well. The acidity is also bright but it’s not overly astringent on the tannic front. Teroldegos are remarkably approachable early on and show well within three years of bottling. Higher end bottles can age well too – for a decade or so.”
World’s Best Wines
“This variety produces some deeply pigmented wines with almost intensely fruity flavours. It is for this reason, a very popular grape in Trentino, although it’s intense sugar and alcohol have been pointed out by several winemakers as being too sweet and un-winey. Whatever be the points raised against or for it, these wines remain an all time Trentino popular. It is also a very selective wine when it comes to viticulture, and hasn’t found much success outside Trentino region. Some plantations do exist in Australia, California and Brazil, but its 98% of production comes from Italy alone.”
Wine Paradigm
“Teroldego (teh-RAHL-deh-go) is a very high quality grape variety grown almost exclusively in Trentino, which is the southern half of Italy’s most northerly wine region: Trentino-Alto Adige…In Trentino it is grown in the gravel rich soils of the Rotaliano plain where yields are generally high resulting in light bodied, fruity wines with good acidity and soft tannins. These wines are often compared to Beaujolais Crus…and can be quite elegant and delicious. Expect aromas of red berries, dried fruits and violets with flavors of cherry, cranberry, blackberry and plum, as well as a refreshing bitter almond note on the finish. However, there is another side to Teroldego. When yields are kept low, tannins allowed to fully ripen and the wines are aged in oak their structure and complexity are transformed. Now these wines become full bodied and Powerful in style with deeper, riper fruit flavors, combined with spice and smoky notes from oak contact. They still retain good acidity and the tannins support their firm structure. Made in this style Teroldego is a big wine, which is sometimes compared to Zinfandel.”
Tar and Roses
“Teroldego is easily overcropped to produce bright, fresh, balanced, fruity wines to be drunk young. Its personality is transformed if yield is restricted, when it offers lush, concentrated dark stone fruit and black cherry flavors and aromas offset by smoke, herb and bitter almond notes. It is marked by a particularly fine acidic balance and complexity, and restrained oak contact rounds out its structure.”
Opening a Bottle
“Teroldego wines have Syrah’s concentration, power and wild aromas of black fruit, olives and herbs, while retaining the soft approach and delicate tannins of Pinot Noir.”
Vinodiversity
“Teroldego is known for producing well structured, deeply coloured red wines with black cherry flavours. If the variety is allowed to overcrop in the vineyard then the wines are fairly nondescript as you will find if you try cheaper versions.”
Simply Better Wines
“Teroldego generally produces medium-bodied wines with soft tannins and bright acidity. The wines are quite fruity with flavors of dark berry fruits such as mulberry, black raspberry and boysenberry, all accented with notes of drying grass, aromatic wood, river stones and bitter herbs. The efforts to extract more from Teroldego and the over reliance on barriques by some winemakers have produced wines that are often big and rich, but that have lost the nuance and transparency that makes for a truly compelling Teroldego wine.”

Some Teroldegos to Try

Despite its widely acknowledged excellence, Teroldego has yet to make much of an impact in the U.S., so the list below is now down to but one bottling (even stretching our criteria somewhat). Moreover, it seems ever more wines that would once have made these lists—and especially Italian wines, for some reason—are disappearing: either dropping in critical ratings, going up in price, or vanishing from retailers’ shelves (or all of those). Sad: very sad.

Mind, there are various Teroldegos out there, some of decent or better quality; but they are scattered around a very small number of shops each. If your local winemonger has or can get you a Teroldego or two, give it a try.

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This page was last modified on Saturday, 30 October 2021, at 11:26 pm Pacific Time.

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