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Anteprima Chiaretto 2019

Posted on March 29, 2019 by AdminGuerrieriRizzardi

The Rosé Revolution arrived once again at Lazise, the beautiful village on the shore of lake Garda, for the “Anteprima del Chiaretto”. Producers from every corner of the lake arrived to show they are serious about the Revolution, which champions the production of rosé wines with lighter colours and more floral notes.

The most important market for many is still Germany but growth in northern Europe, USA and Canada has been exponential. An encouraging result, given that the competition is led by the renowned pink wines from the South of France, Provence in particular.

Guerrieri Rizzardi was in Lazise to showcase the new Chiaretto Bardolino Classico 2018, for us this vintage has the ideal balance between our palest colour to date and the classic floral and refreshing style characteristic of dry rosé wine from lake Garda.

To find where our rosé is for sale, internationally, contact us on…exportassist@guerrieri-rizzardi.it

Salute!

Blog

Bud break

Posted on April 27, 2018 by AdminGuerrieriRizzardi

You know that time of the year when the landscape changes from grey and dark to bright blue and vibrant green ? Yes, it is spring but in the wine world that time is called bud break.

The anticipation of this new cycle could appear as a bad omen: the so called vine bleeding. It actually is the healthy sign that is time for the sleeping beauties to gently get back to work. With the rise in soil temperature the liquids and the nutrients stored in the trunk climb up to swell the dormant buds. This process reactivates the system and prepares for bud break. What bleeds from the wood is sap and that is the vital clue that soil moisture is adequate.

The buds literally burst with energy, the green leaves appear and photosynthesis starts, and from there the growth is exponential. It is the beginning of a journey that will transform these tiny, shy blossoms in beautiful, successful grapes.

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Winter pruning

Posted on March 16, 2018March 28, 2018 by AdminGuerrieriRizzardi

In football, goal scorers gets the lion’s share of the attention and cheers of the fans. Hard working midfielders, on the other hand, build the more obscure but essential play that will lead strikers to glory.

Similarly, in vineyards, the harvest is the period of a vine cycle that gets the limelight from pundits, media and draws consumer attention. Winter pruning, on the other hand, is the lesser known but crucial time in which decisions are made on what’s going to happen with the fruit for the new vintage.

There are many ways to prune vines. The suitable ones are chosen according to the type of grape, where the vines grow and which shape will make future operations easier. But the fundamental point is that vines produce fruit on one year old wood, meaning that the canes older than that won’t be fruitful. Left to itself, a grapevine would grow to a dense mass of mostly older wood. So up to 90 % of previous year’s shoot growth is removed. A lengthy operation that takes place when the vines are dormant.

The main goal of winter pruning is regulating yields. You mainly do this by controlling the number of buds that will produce bunches of grapes. And then attempting to balance this fruit production with the future vegetative growth (the so called canopy). As easy as it sounds, we should always taken into account the fascinating and sometimes frustrating fact that the grapevine is very responsive to changes in weather. Even more so in cooler regions, where weather conditions tend to be more changeable (spring frost, levels of summer rains etc).

Next time you look at a vineyard in January or February think about the fact that what’s going to thrill your palate in the future starts from those dark and apparently indolent winter days.

Blog

Christmas wines

Posted on December 21, 2017December 21, 2017 by AdminGuerrieriRizzardi

What do Italians eat and drink at Christmas? The right answer is that in every region (if not province) you’ll find different dishes, according to different environments and historical traditions. The choice of wine has always been inextricably intertwined with the culinary local options.

Here is a quick glance to the Veneto region’s traditions and suitable wine matches:

As starters, cured meat is a classic. The most famous from Veneto is Soppressa, made from 100% pork. A medium bodied, crisp white wine like our Costeggiola Soave Classico will cut through the fatness. But a juicy red like our Tacchetto Bardolino Classico is a good option too.

In order to warm the Christmas spirit nothing better than a broth made with cappone, a cockerel that was fattened to improve the quality of the flesh. And the trick works! The tasty stock is served with tortellini stuffed with ham or beef, so you can match it with a more structured and savoury Soave, like our Ferra Soave Classico. But also a soft red with plenty of fruit like our Munus will work a treat.

The broth usually provides one popular second course that is bollito (stew). In Verona it is usually seasoned with pearà , a sauce made with stock, bread crumbs, bone marrow and pepper. A perfect choice is our velvety and structured Pojega Ripasso.

Roasts are a staple in the Italian festive menu, in particular those marinated in red wine, usually accompanied with polenta. Amarone, a member of the national wine aristocracy, is used in this type of preparation, leaving the beef overnight marinating in the wine. It makes for an expensive sauce but the results are amazing. Guerrieri Rizzardi is proud to produce two fine expressions of Amarone Classico, Villa Rizzardi e our flagship Calcarole. They are deep, full bodied and extremely elegant.

Dessert is a must. And takes various forms. As a winery from the Verona area we can help but to mention Pandoro. With its soft and sweet hug that calls for a sweet but fresh wine like our Recioto di Soave

Blog

Merano Wine Festival 2017

Posted on November 17, 2017November 21, 2017 by AdminGuerrieriRizzardi

The Italian and International elite of wine turned up in Merano last week for one of the classiest appointments of the year. The 26^th edition of the Wine Festival saw five days of tastings, debates, wine Masterclasses and food events with chefs of international fame.

Guerrieri Rizzardi was present for the 11^th year, this time displaying Calcarole Amarone 2008 and Pojega Ripasso 2015 that delighted the palates of our visitors. On Monday, traditional day for “vintage bottles”, we poured Villa Rizzardi Amarone 2003 that was still in great form!

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Improving an historic CRU

Posted on December 16, 2016December 16, 2016 by AdminGuerrieriRizzardi

16
Dec

How do you improve a Cru vineyard? The answer is with a lot of care, maintenance and hard work and then on top of that a renovation!

That is exactly what we have done to the historic, Cru vineyard of Pojega in the heart of Negrar in Valpolicella.

The vineyard was replanted in 1978 in neat rows of high trellised vines (double Veronese pergola). Now, decades later, every year calls for regular work in the vineyard: the replacing of the supports, trimming of edges, replanting of spent vines.

However this year saw an even bigger project at Pojega. This year we removed all excess vegetation from the eastern side of the vineyard and made room for at least two new rows of vines to be planted. Two rows that will run the entire length of the vineyard.

At the northern part of Pojega, by clearing and preparing the land, we have created space which will allow us to extend each row of vines by several metres.

In addition removing excess wild growth around the edges of the vineyards can help to improve the health of the vines themselves. Being sensitive pants grapevines proximity to other large plant growth can cause problems.

All of which means that Pojega vineyard – from which comes both Villa Rizzardi Amarone Classico and Pojega Ripasso – will cover approximately an extra 1/3 of a hectare and one day those extra vines should be the source of over 2,000 bottles of much needed (as it runs out earlier and earlier every year!) Pojega Ripasso.

img_20161114_124817 — The contrast between Pojega’s limestone and dark clay soils

img_20161114_124521 — The northern part of Pojega cleared to extend the rows of vines

img_20161114_125122 — The new space on the eastern side, the ground will be made ready for replanting in early spring

Blog

Gearing up for hand picking

Posted on July 19, 2016 by AdminGuerrieriRizzardi

19
Jul

Often Amarone production is cited as one of the wine world’s most labour intensive processes and with good reason.

To get things right does take a lot of work from the handpicking, to hand selecting, to grape drying and constant reviewing of the dried grapes, to the long fermentation, blending, barrel aging. bottle ageing etc. etc.

But even before any of that starts there is work to be done and in our pursuit of wines that are pristine expressions of the vineyards, cleaning the very boxes the grapes are carried in is no mean task!

Amarone grape drying boxes lined up waiting for cleaning

Although not as romantic as straw mats we made the switch several years ago to these white boxes, the choice was one of hygene, here everything shows up and can be cleaned away.

White PVC boxes – hygienic and easy to clean

The next step is to wet the boxes, softening up the residue and getting them ready to enter the box washer.

This pre-clean allows the automated ‘box washer’ to do its work

The ‘box washer’ is like a large powerful dishwasher and it successfully annihilates any residue left on our boxes

The boxes are then stacked by hand and placed in columns then with the aid of the forklift they will be put aside in clean condition to await the first harvest, which this year – judging by the incredible sunshine – could only be around 10 weeks away!

Each box is checked for residue then hand stacked

Blog

Follow the life of a vineyard – Part 3

Posted on May 27, 2016May 27, 2016 by AdminGuerrieriRizzardi

27
May

Ravei – week 6

A couple of days of rainfall, a couple of thunderstorms and temperatures soaring up over 27°C and Ravei has changed quite a bit in the last three weeks.

Excellent leaf development over the last 3 weeks

The vine growth has been excellent and the leaves are glossy and healthy and should these weather pattern continued for the early part of the summer then the young vines will be off to a very good start.

Ravei sits on a gentle slope that faces south west giving it good exposure to the afternoon sun, it is also quite sheltered, a little bit of a suntrap.As can be seen from the photograph below the vineyard is nestled between an ancient olive grove and in the foreground another vineyard.

Nesteled in between a 'Pergola' trained vineyard and an ancient olive grove — Nestled in between a ‘Pergola’ trained vineyard and an ancient olive grove

Here can be seen the contrast between the traditional ‘pergola’ trained vines and the neat rows of trellis posts which will eventually be used to ‘train’ the vines of Ravei in rows.

The advantages to us of this ‘single Guyot’ training system are numerous, not least is the equal, well displaced exposure to the sun that each vine will receive.

Near this vine can be seen some the classic 'moranic' smooth large pebbles, typical of good Bardolino terroir — Near this vine can be seen some of the classic ‘moranic’, smooth, large pebbles so typical of good Bardolino terroir

Blog

Follow the life of a vineyard – Part 2

Posted on May 7, 2016May 10, 2016 by AdminGuerrieriRizzardi

07
May

Ravei – Week 3

Some changes already underway for our new vineyard ‘Ravei’. A few days of rain interspersed with sunny spells followed by several warm sunny days has resulted in a good burst of growth in the baby vines.

Breaking through the wax coating we are expecting rapid growth over the next few weeks.

DSC_3967 (800x530) — Good early growth as the leaves burst through the protective wax

At first the vines are free standing but already trellising posts are in place and soon the wires will go through each of these posts providing the structure for these little vines.

DSC_3970 (600x397) — Trellising posts in place – each one has a series of holes through which the training wires will eventually go

As with all our vineyards, this will be a place in which we encourage biodiversity, here are some of nature’s best pest controllers in action, happy to see this ‘coccinella’ in the vineyard:

DSC_3979 (800x530) — This looks like a seven spot ladybird, a welcome guest as they are perfect aphid and mite hunters.

Blog

Follow the life of a Vineyard

Posted on April 22, 2016April 22, 2016 by AdminGuerrieriRizzardi

22
Apr

Ravei – Week 1

Ravei is the latest addition to our family of vineyards in Bardolino Classico bringing the total number of vineyards to 40 but Ravei is different…

Here we have chosen to plant a variety normally associated with our vineyards in Valpolicella, namely Corvinone, this will be our first planting here in the heart of Bardolino Classico. We believe here, on this gentle slope, planted in the rocky, pebble strewn, clay soils of Ravei that the Corvinone grapes should do particularly well.

Week 1i (500x331) — The wax covered, newly planted baby vines of Corvinone

The vineyard is planted to a high density, i.e lots of vines in a small space, in fact 5,900 vines in just 1.18 hectares (just under 3 acres).

Week 1iii (500x222) — The gentle slope and pebbly soil of Ravei will allow good drainage during the rains

For now the baby vines stand alone in their rows but next week the trellising goes in to give these rows their order and give the new vines a structure to grow against.

The nice thing is, some good rain is forecast followed by more warm April sun, good ingredients for nurturing these infants.

Ravei – week 6

Ravei – Week 3

Ravei – Week 1

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