Bardolino and Bardolino Superiore are Italian red wines produced along the chain of morainic hills in the province of Verona to the east of

Lake Garda Lake Garda (, , or , ; ; ) is the largest lake in Italy. It is a popular holiday location in northern Italy, between Brescia and Milan to the west, and Verona and Venice to the east. The lake cuts into the edge of the Eastern Alps, Italian Alp ...

. Bardolino takes its name from the town Bardolino on the shores of

and was awarded ''

Denominazione di origine controllata The following four classification of wine, classifications of wine constitute the Italy, Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine: * ''Denominazione di origine'' (DO, rarely used; ; 'designation of origin'); * ''Indicazione ...

'' (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, Rondinella, and Molinara. Up to 15% of the blend is allowed to include Rossignola, Barbera, Sangiovese, or

Garganega Garganega (, ; meaning "from Gargano") is a variety of white Italian wine grape widely grown in the Veneto region of North East Italy, particularly in the provinces of Verona and Vicenza. It is Italy's 6th most widely planted white grape. ...

, 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 Bardolino, Affi, Cavaion, Costermano, Garda, and Lazise. 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, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

DOCs - Soave and

Valpolicella Valpolicella (, , ) is a 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 production. Valpolicella ra ...

- any ''

terroir (; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, th ...

'' 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 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 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

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), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

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 may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

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 wine color, 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 Macerati ...

'', 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 throughout all of 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. French wine traces its history to th ...

Beaujolais nouveau.

References

{{reflist Italian DOC Wines of Veneto