Terzetto Teroldego

Terzetto 2006 Teroldego, Mistral Vineyard

We persist in making wine from this rarest of red wine varietals in California because?

We seek to create something along the lines of the wonderful Teroldegos made by Elizabeta Foradori in Alto Adige
We love the fruit from Mistral Vineyard
We can’t conceive of not making this wine
All of the above.

If you answered D, you are correct. We consider Teroldego Rotaliano to be a remarkably under-praised varietal. It makes a rich, powerful wine with the deepest possible colour, yet with very refined tannins, excellent depth and definition of black fruit flavours which marry well with the older French oak barrels we prefer. It also appears to age indefinitely, based the performance of previous vintages.

In 2006 the Teroldego grapes at Mistral Vineyard were clearly happy campers, as indeed they should be with all the sunshine they enjoyed in their location near Gilroy, California. Later ripening varietals such as Teroldego got plenty of hang time, to fully ripen with amazing acidity still intact. Harvest occurred in late-September with optimal ripeness at 24.0 Brix, total acidity of 8.5 g/L and a pH of 3.34. Winemaking regime consisted of de-stemming and crushing, followed by relatively long fermentation and a short post-fermentation maceration. Once dry, the wines were moved to large Hungarian oak barrels (500L). After 48 months, the wine was bottle ready, with no need to fine or filter. The wine had developed secondary and tertiary aromas, a mix of the strong fruit personality of Teroldego and barrel characters from long term aging in new puncheons.

Although close to impossible for even the most experienced taster to identify when served blind, this wine is a real charmer at table; snuggling up to the likes of Bollito Misto, Pasta con Funghi, Bistecca ala Toscana, Roast Chicken, Duck or game with equal ease. The 2006 vintage wine will achieve all this and more, as it is deep purple in colour with aromas of black currant, black cherries, and blackberries, a rich, chewy texture in the mouth and an extremely long finish.