It’s little wonder we drink so much Pinot, Shiraz and Cabernet. All widely planted around the world, each with its own distinctive traits making it easy to identify, and you don’t have to twist your tongue when placing your order and risk sounding like a chump. All very comfortable.
And then you’ve got Teroldego.
A variety pretty much confined to the north-east corner of Italy, and with a wonderfully exotic name you need a flair for linguistics to pronounce correctly first time. But there’s something wonderfully familiar about the palate, which you could almost mistake for a blend of Pinot, Shiraz and Cabernet.
If you want to know exactly what it should taste like, ask Italy’s superstar winemaker Elisabetta Foradori – the undisputed Queen of Teroldego.
Though widely planted and written about in the 1300s, today just 400 hectares of Italy’s oldest and most traditional grape variety remain. And Foradori has made it her life’s work to champion these vines planted in the sandy gravel alluvial plains of Rotaliano.
A heady nose of dark spicy fruits with an earthy, slightly aniseed layer follows through onto the medium-bodied palate. A cherry-like acidity and dry tannin on the finish gives a sense of lightness to the darkish profile with definite nods to all three of those more accustomed varieties of Pinot, Shiraz and Cabernet.
An honest winter wine that’s as rare as the crown jewels but fits like your favourite hat.
:::BO:::
B = Biodynamic: cynics think it’s voodoo but this is basically holistic farming that uses manures and composts to improve soil life and the interaction of the vines with their environment.
O = Organic: farming without the use of inputs that can have adverse effects. ‘Non-systemic’ fungicides and pesticides are used in place of ‘systemic’ chemicals said to enter the ‘blood’ of a plant (akin to antibiotics in the human world).