2007 Foradori Granato Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT- Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT (8/8/2013)
Color: Opaque ruby at the core
Smell: Pipe tobacco, black berries, blueberries, and graphite
Taste: Dear god this is smooth…Bing cherries, plums, and blueberries
Overall: This wine is pure silk on the palate…The tannins are super-fine but present with medium acidity, med+ fruit, medium body, deft balance with elegance and complexity to spare. Outstanding!!
My wife and I visited there back in April. It was a very nice winery and they gave us the full tour. We bought a few bottles to bring home but only one made it. I got thirsty. I like their wines and wish they were available in SC.
I’d say a cross between Merlot and Aglianico…but the smoothness of this wine is hard to place. It’s really crazy to say this…but I just haven’t had a wine that’s easy to compare to Teroldego. As it ages there’s this wildness that I don’t get with either Merlot or Aglianico…but reminds me more of a cross between Sangio & Sagrantino. It’s just impossible to compare to another grape for me. What I will say is if you can find this for $40or close to there…it’s well worth the cost to try in my book.
To put it into context…I have wines from only three other producers in my cellar in the 6+ range…they are
G. Conterno (he’s kinda famous in Barolo)
D. Dagueneau (he changed my view of the Loire)
and
B. Bartlett (almost no one knows about him…but he’s my best find in wine to-date)
I’m more a fan of Foradori’s other teroldego instead of the Grannato which sees more oak than the others. I would compare the grape to something Northern Italian/Southern Central European like lagrein or Blaufränkisch. It is not really a tannic grape but has tons of overt fruit without a lot of structure, in a plummy vein. I don’t get the comparisons to sagrantino or aglianico because to me, it doesn’t have that level of extract or density.
The extract & desity are about how a producer handles the grapes…I’ve had very elegant sagrantino & aglianico that were neither overtly extracted or dense…but I know what you’re talking about as I’ve had some of them…and this is nothing like those styles.
I have almost no experience with Teroldego, but I have had the '04 (if I remember correctly) of this wine, and I like the Lagrein comparison. It wasn’t quite as light as most Lagrein I’ve had, but it was pretty similar to a high end oaked version I tried recently in structure and flavor profile. Rather than getting caught up in what it resembles, I think it would make sense to just try this wine if you’re interested. It’s really nice.
