Rondinella

Today we are in Veneto in the northeastern part of Italy. It's home to Venice on the Adriatic Sea and Verona in its western part and sits in the southern foothills of the Italian Alps. On the coastal plains, the weather is much warmer than in the rest of the region because of the warming effects of the Adriatic and the natural shield of the harsh temperatures from the north shielded by the Alps.

Along with Friuli and Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto forms the Tre Venezie, the three regions of what was once the Republic of Venice. Of the three, Veneto is easily the largest both in area and population.

While Veneto is home in its cooler regions to perhaps the better known Soave and Moscato, in the coastal plains, they grown primarily red grapes. And while Corvina is the major grape in Amarone, Rondinella also plays a major role sometimes constituting about 30% of the wine.

From a growing standpoint, it is a winery's dream. Although it has a parent-offspring relationship with Corvina and Corvinone which don't have these same characteristics, Rondinella is particularly high-yielding and disease resistant. So, in difficult vintages, Amarone and the other red wines of the region tend to be loaded up with Rondinella while in the friendliest vintages, it is less needed.

Who cares?

You should. Corvina, in particular is an interesting and flavorful grape. It is very well suited to production in all of Valpolicella, Ripasso, and Amarone. And, while it is not that I know of, wines made from 100% Corvina might be quite enjoyable, In fact, while Amarone by law can only contain 95% Corvina, some of the best wines from the best vintages do.

Rondinella is a filler, plain and simple. Unlike many of the other grapes we have featured here, it is boring, bland, light-bodied, and relatively uninteresting. To the extent that it does have typical expressions, they are usually red fruit.

Pair your Rondinella if you choose to drink it alone with spam, haggis, balut, or hasma, or any other dish that you cannot imagine stomaching. Perhaps the Rondinella will wash it down quickly.

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