Bardolino and Bardolino Superiore are Italian red wines produced along the chain of morainic hills in the

province of Verona The Province of Verona ( it, Provincia di Verona) is a province in the Veneto administrative region of Italy. On its northwestern border, Lake GardaItaly's largestis divided between Verona and the provinces of Brescia (Lombardy region) and Trenti ...

to the east of

Lake Garda Lake Garda ( it, Lago di Garda or ; lmo, label=Eastern Lombard, Lach de Garda; vec, Ƚago de Garda; la, Benacus; grc, Βήνακος) is the largest lake in Italy. It is a popular holiday location in northern Italy, about halfway between ...

. Bardolino takes its name from the town

Bardolino Bardolino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about west of Venice and about northwest of Verona. Geography Located on the eastern shore of Lake Garda, Bardolino borders the followin ...

on the shores of

and was awarded '' Denominazione di origine controllata'' (DOC) status in 1968. The ''Superiore'' is a stronger aged wine, and was promoted to '' Denominazione di origine controllata e garantita'' (DOCG) status in 2001. The blend of grapes used to produce the wine primarily includes

Corvina Corvina is an Italian wine grape variety that is sometimes also referred to as Corvina Veronese or Cruina. The total global wine-growing area in 2010 was , all of which is grown in the Veneto region of northeast Italy, except for planted in Ar ...

Rondinella Rondinella is an Italian wine grape variety. Almost all of the total global growing area of is in the Veneto region of northern Italy, and the grapes are used in wines from the Valpolicella and Bardolino wine regions. Rondinella always appear ...

, and

Molinara Molinara is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about 80 km northeast of Naples and about 20 km northeast of Benevento. Molinara borders the following municipalities: Foian ...

. Up to 15% of the blend is allowed to include

Rossignola Rossignola is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Veneto wine region of northeast Italy. The variety was first mentioned growing in the province of Verona in the early 19th century and today is a permitted blending variety in seve ...

, Barbera,

Sangiovese Sangiovese (, also , , ) is a red Italian wine grape variety that derives its name from the Latin ''sanguis Jovis'', "the blood of Jupiter". Though it is the grape of most of central Italy from Romagna down to Lazio (the most widespread grape i ...

, or Garganega, in any combination.J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 63 Oxford University Press 2006

Wine region

Located on the south eastern shores of Lake Garda, the ''classico'' zone surrounds the towns of

Affi Affi is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about west of Venice and about northwest of Verona. The municipality of Affi is divided into the ''frazioni'' of Affi, Incaffi and Caorsa. Incaf ...

Cavaion Cavaion Veronese is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italy, Italian region Veneto, located about west of Venice and about northwest of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 4,459 and an area of .All de ...

Costermano Costermano sul Garda is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about west of Venice and about northwest of Verona. Costermano sul Garda borders the following municipalities: Affi, Bardolino ...

, Garda, and

Lazise Lazise is a ''comune'' (municipality) and town in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about west of Venice and about northwest of Verona. It is situated on the eastern shore of Lake Garda. As of 31 December 2004, it h ...

. Beyond the ''classico'' zone to the south are flat, fertile plains where Bardolino wine is produced from high grape yields. About 45% of the production comes from the Bardolino Classico region, but unlike its neighboring

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

DOCs - Soave and

Valpolicella Valpolicella (, , ) is a viticulture (wine), viticultural zone of the province of Verona, Italy (wine), Italy, east of Lake Garda. The hilly agricultural and marble-quarrying region of small holdings north of the Adige is famous for wine producti ...

- any '' terroir'' driven quality difference seems to be minimal between the wine produced in the classico region and that from the greater DOC zone.

Grapes and wine

Although the three main grapes used to produce Bardolino are also used to produce Valpolicella, the two wines are quite different. This is partly because Bardolino generally contains less Corvina which adds

body Body may refer to: In science * Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space * Body (biology), the physical material of an organism * Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anima ...

and structure and more Rondinella which has a relatively neutral flavor profile. Yields in Bardolino also tend to be higher than the 13

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

s per

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

officially prescribed in DOC regulations. Minor blending grapes, such as Rossignola, Barbera, Sangiovese, and the white grape variety Garganega, are also permitted up to 15% total.P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' pg 125 Firefly Books 2004 Other versions of Bardolino include a ''Superiore'', which has at least 1 extra percent of

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

and must be aged at least a year before being released, a ''

rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the skin contact method. ...

'', known as ''Bardolino Chiaretto'', a lightly sparkling ''frizzante'', and a ''novello''. The Bardolino ''novello'' was first produced in the late 1980s in a style that mimics the

French wine French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and America ...

Beaujolais nouveau.

References

{{reflist Italian DOC Wines of Veneto