An Odd Italian Red Wine from the Sierra
Dec 19th, 2007 | By Hank Shaw | Category: Italian, Wine | Comments | No Comments |
I admit it: I have a weakness for the unusual. Wine is no exception. So when I saw a winery I buy from fairly frequently offering an Italian varietal I’d never heard of, I just had to buy it. And, even better, it was only $10 at Corti Bros. The wine I am drinking as I write is Montevina’s 2003 Teroldego. Huh? You ask. What the hell is a “teroldego?” I said the same thing. I thought I knew a fair bit about Italian wines, but this one escaped me. It’s from Trentino, up near Austria and Slovenia, and is dark and mouth-filling.
This one appears to be a pet project of the people up at Montevina, an Amador County winery that makes my favorite inexpensive Italo-California reds. The Barbera is excellent, as is their Sangiovese. The 2003 I am drinking reminds me of something…something…aha! A Syrah! That’s what it tastes like. Imagine that? Teroldego happens to be a cousin of Syrah. Bold, full but not jammy, tannic but not felty, not overly fruity (maybe a little bit of pomegranate), and it definitely leaves you with a kind of heavy, tar-like finish. But not in a bad way. I’d buy it again.
