Episode 185: Grape Gab – Talking Teroldego
We are talking Teroldego in October’s Grape Gab. You may know it’s an Italian original, but where else is it doing well? The answer may surprise you. It did us. We also draw the October winner of our monthly drawing for a WTSO gift card (sponsored by WTSO), and have a new #W25Challenge update! Finally, we dish out our new #W25LoCo mini-show, launching this week.
In Steph’s Glasses (0:45)
2013 Leuta Merlot from Cortona & 2015 Di Prima Syrah from Sicily
Steph’s drinking for the two of us this week. She’s also raising one up to the last week of #MerlotMe month. Cheers to that.
Val has tea. *yawn*
Moving on.
Teroldego!
This was the Summer Grape Gab silver medal winner from a poll we took about what you’d like to learn about next (after September’s Sémillon).
Essentially:
We’re talking Teroldego, from Trentino (yo)
After taking a poll, y’all wanted someTyrol,
This gab’s less about mold, more about Tyrol gold.
(Eh hem. Be glad she stopped here, K?)
Either way, may this information add to your future #W25Challenge fun!
What it is (2:30)
A thick skinned, native Italian red grape from the Trentino region of Northern Italy. It comprises about 6% of plantings in the region (Consorzio, 2014).
It is early ripening and produces good yields of darkly colored juice. Might be why Teroldego was an important wine grape way back “in the day” and has been growing there since at least the 1300s (Vini del Trentino Consorzio, n.d.). It is also hardy and easy to grow. According to Wine Grapes (2013), the Teroldego grape made its first appearance in ink in a Latin sales contract in 1480.
Name calling (5:23)
Synonyms include Teroldego Rotaliano, Merlina, and many more spellings of Teroldigo, where the vowels are moved around some, such as: Teroldega, Teroldico, Tiraldega etc.
All in the Family? (5:41)
Teroldego is an uncle (or aunt? Why’s it gotta be an uncle, huh?!) of Syrah and the sibling of Dureza.
It also has a suspected parent-offspring relationship (or cousin?) with Lagrein and Marzemino.
Perhaps it would help to look at suspected origins:
Some believe the grape’s name came from an ancient vineyard site in the Rotaliano plain, near Mezzolombardo, called Alle Teroldege (Robinson, 2013).
In that sales contract, Teroldego, the more familiar spelling, was actually spelled with an “I” as in Tiroldigo. This has led to speculation that the wine was once known as “Tiroler gold” (gold from Tirol) in Vienna.
Hail Cesare (Battiste)! (8:03)
Teroldego hails originally in the Rotaliano Plain in Trentino, Northern Italy.
We should note that the Rotaliano Plain is called Campo Rotaliano in Italian, and was named such by Trentino geographer, Cesare Battiste, during the early 1900s. Rough translations? “The most beautiful vine garden in Europe” (Agraria.org, n.d.).
In the bottle (9:00)
Teroldego Rotaliano DOC
- Region: Trentino-Alto Adige
- DOC established in 1971
- Must be 100% Teroldego
- Styles = Rosso, Rosato (known here as Kretzer), Superiore, Superiore Riserva
The grape can be found blended into the Casteller, Trentino, and Valdadige/Etschaler rosati.
There are also slew (technical wine term here) of IGP wines from Northern to Southern Italy, the island of Sardegna to the bottom of the boot, Basilicata.
Hey, it’s a hearty grape. It can grow where it wants, and it has that late-ripening advantage.
Outside of Italy (11:35)
Besides Italy, you can find Teroldego planted in California – Santa Barbara, Amador County, Lodi, for starters. New York? Yes. Also Australia and Brazil.
Speaking of Brazil, the appellation Evan Goldstein mentioned last week (where Master the World was conceived over breakfast wine mind meanderings), Rio Grande do Sul grows “Gazillions of Grapes,” (p. 183 in Wines of South America). Teroldego is one in a gazillion. Respect.
Did someone say Colorado? Oh, we did! One of the 13 winning 2018 ‘Governor’s Collection’ wines in Colorado, Red Fox Cellars (Palisade) 2016 Teroldego, Grand Valley AVA.
For more, check article this article by Colorado’s Master of Wine, Ashley Hausman.
In the glass (13:00)
This is one of those fabulous, inky, dark, purple – almost black- wines, unless you’re swirling a rosato style.
It’s richly fruity – think berries and cherries, savory, and tarry, with zippy acidity (cool climate, remember?) and crispness with medium tannins.
Winemakers also like to use Teroldego as a blending grape to add color.
Bottles generally run between $20-$35, and there are age-worthy examples, but most varietal bottlings are meant to be enjoyed relatively young.
Resources:
Agraria.org http://www.agraria.org/vini/teroldego-rotaliano-doc.htm
Italian Grape Name Pronunciation Project by our pal Jeremy Parzen, PhD (see Episode 68: Do Bianchi, Per Favore for the video links also)
Italian Wine Central https://italianwinecentral.com/variety/teroldego/
Robinson, J., Harding, J., & Vouillamoz, J. (2012). Wine grapes: A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours [Kindle Edition]. New York: Ecco.
UC Davis: http://fps.ucdavis.edu/fgrdetails.cfm?varietyid=2137
Vini del Trentino Consorzio: https://www.vinideltrentino.com/ITA/28/Teroldego_Rotaliano.html
Wino Radar (16:23)
Put some altitude in your glass! Check out Denver Wine Radio’s latest episode – we’re on it!
This is a tease for the next announcement:
W25LoCo launches next week, Friday, 26 October.
LoCo stands for Local Colorado, and we are producing a mini episode each quarter focusing on Colorado’s wine, spirits, beer, and personalities, establishments, or whatever we find tasty and interesting around our great state.
That’s right, we grow grapes, make wine, distill whisky, rum, vodka, gin & everything in between.
And we brew. We brew like nobody’s business.
That’s what we’ll be sharing with you!
The first episode features Denver’s Bonaquisti winery, owner Paul Bonaquisti and broadcasting veteran, Cha Cha Chavez. Can you tell we had fun making this? Just a little?
Here’s the trailer, in case you missed it.
Boom.
#W25Challenge Update (19:21)
Pinotage post from April in our private Facebook group (Wine Two Five Community) on October 14.
“Today is apparently International Pinotage Day and I opened a bottle of this. I’ve never had Pinotage and I think this producer tastes like brown sugar, dark cherry and bacon! So much bacon!”
Photo: April Courville
Shoutouts (20:10)
Steph: Adam Ridge at Supermarket Liquors ordered her some killer bottles of Vitovska wine from Italy!
We got a little excited thinking about a fringe grape gab episode sometime in the future. Do you have any grapes you rarely see, love, or want to learn more about?
Val: Our buddies over at My Wine Society are having their next launch event in Temecula,CA on Saturday December 1st.
Tickets are now available. For more info and details, check out the @MyWineSociety on Instagram.
WTSO is our Podcast Sponsor! (21:28)
WTSO (Wines ‘Til Sold Out) is wine at the best price online, one at a time, til sold out. It will change the way you shop for your wine.
No clubs. No hassle.
Check them out and follow them on Instagram, FaceBook and Twitter and see what’s new and good!
Meanwhile, our listeners have their very own listener page at: weeklytasting.com/W25 to sign up and get started!
Patreon Love (22:23)
Thank you to our patrons who support us on our Patreon crowdfunding platform!
*We do read all the names on the show, and feature the list on our Support page.*
Our Patreon page has details www.patreon.com/winetwofivepodcast on how to be entered into our monthly giveaway, receive exclusive content and swag.
Speaking of …
This month’s winner is … (24:10)
Meg in South Dakota! Congratulations! A $25 gift card from WTSO and Weekly Tasting is coming your way!
Connect (26:23)
Between each weekly chat you can find us on the social spaces @WineTwoFive, and play in our private FaceBook group called Wine Two Five Community!
Connect with Val on Twitter @WineGalUnboxed and everywhere else as @VinoWithVal.
Steph is in all the social spaces as @TheWineHeroine.