Teroldego is the great red grape of Trentino. It is born, and gives its best, on the Campo Rotaliano, the triangular plain the Noce river built where it flows into the Adige valley, between Mezzolombardo, Mezzocorona and San Michele all'Adige, some twenty kilometres north of Trento. It is a rare case in Italy: a quality red grown on flat land rather than on hills.
The name
The grape has been tied to the plain for centuries, and no other place of origin is known. There are three theories about its name. The simplest links it to «Le Teroldeghe», a place named in old documents at the centre of the Campo Rotaliano, between Mezzocorona and Mezzolombardo. The most popular derives it from the German Tiroler Gold, «gold of Tyrol»: an appealing explanation rather than a documented one. A third, less accepted, connects it to a «Teroldola» grape named in a document from the time of the Council of Trent.
An important family
A genetic study published in 2006 showed that Teroldego is one of the parents of Lagrein, the red of Alto Adige, and of Marzemino, the red of the Vallagarina. The same study found a close kinship with Dureza, an old grape from the Ardèche that is one of the parents of Syrah. Teroldego is, in short, a relative of Syrah, and the family likeness shows: deep colour, dark fruit, a spicy note.
In the vineyard
The Campo Rotaliano has alluvial soils of gravel, sand and pebbles carried down by the Noce: they drain well and warm up quickly. The rock walls that close the plain shelter it from cold winds, and the gap between day and night temperatures keeps freshness and aromas. Teroldego is vigorous and generous: left unchecked it gives large bunches and thin wines. It is traditionally trained on the Trentino pergola, now joined by vertical trellises that allow lower yields. Since the 1980s the selection of the oldest vines, started by Elisabetta Foradori in Mezzolombardo, has shown how much the grape can give with restrained yields.
In the glass
Teroldego gives wines of intense ruby colour with purple glints, turning garnet with age. On the nose it recalls violet, raspberry, blackberry and blueberry, then spices and, in older bottles, tar and liquorice. On the palate it has good acidity and present but gentle tannins, with a slightly bitter, almond finish. Young versions are drunk fruity and fresh; Riserva wines aged in wood keep well for ten years and more. The rosé, also called Kretzer in Trentino, is lighter and smells of cherry.
Where it is made
The reference appellation is Teroldego Rotaliano DOC, recognised in 1971 and reserved for the plain: it is made from Teroldego only, as red, rosé, Superiore and Riserva. The grape is also used in the Trentino DOC, in Casteller and in Valdadige, and many producers bottle it as IGT Vigneti delle Dolomiti. Outside Trentino there are small plantings in California and Australia, but its name remains tied to the Rotaliano plain.
At the table
Teroldego calls for mountain cooking: Trentino carne salada, lucanica sausage, polenta with mushrooms or with stew, roe deer and venison in salmì, roast pork shank. Among cheeses it prefers aged mountain cheeses such as Puzzone di Moena or Trentingrana. The rosé goes with cured meats, canederli dumplings in broth and river trout.
