What is Bardolino Chiaretto?
Wine Bardolino Chiaretto is a rosé, produced both in the still and sparkling version, which takes its name from the town on Lake Garda in cui viene prodotto. Le uve utilizzate, raccolte e selezionate manualmente da vigneti collinari adiacenti al lago e piantati su terreni morenici di origine glaciale, sono Corvina e Molinara. Caratteristica particolare di questa zona adiacente al lago è il clima temperato, le estati non sono troppo calde e nel periodo invernale le temperature scendono difficilmente sotto zero.
Despite what many believe, Bardolino Chiaretto is not obtained by mixing red and white wines, also because it is a practice that goes completely against Italian law. The light pink colour of this wine is developed with the method used for its vinification. The skins are left to macerate together with the wort for a maximum of two days, this type of winemaking is also called"in pink".
Its typical characteristics
The first thing that stands out is the light pink colour that distinguishes this wine. On tasting, it is a fresh, sweet and savoury wine in which the aromas of peach, morello cherry and mandarin stand out. The volume of alcohol in Bardolino Chiaretto is usually around 13%.
La storia della vinificazione del Bardolino Chiaretto
The Chiaretto winemaking technique was born in 1896 in Moniga del Garda thanks to the Venetian senator, lawyer and art history teacher Pompeo Molmetti, who owned a property with vineyards in Moniga and discovered the ideal winemaking technique for this wine. This vinification technique was then normalized by the Consorzio Tutela Vini Bresciani in 1962.
Suggested gastronomic pairings
Wine Bardolino Chiaretto has a marked sapidity, a characteristic that makes it perfect for many gastronomic combinations
Initially this wine was considered ideal to drink as an apéritif or to eat with typical summer dishes but, over the years, experts have begun to consume it with more demanding dishes.
Thanks to its particular characteristics, in fact, Chiaretto can be easily combined with white meats, cold cuts, pizza, fish, appetizers, pasta dishes, vegetables of various kinds and sushi.
Ricetta consigliata a cui abbinare il Bardolino Chiaretto
Nella zona di Bardolino, area nella quale viene prodotto il Bardolino Chiaretto, solitamente si usa abbinarlo a pietanze fatte con fish which are typical of Lake Garda.
One of the typical dishes that is often paired with Chiaretto is risotto with tench fish, a typical dish of the towns surrounding the lake, which is delicate and tasty at the same time.
Preparazione del risotto con la tinca
The preparation of this dish is quite simple and, for four people, these ingredients are necessary: 1.5 kg (33.06lbs) of tench, four hundred grams of Vialone Nano ricefour hundred grams (0.88lbs) of tomatoes previously peeled, an onion, a hectogram (0.22lbs) of butter, five or six fairly large leaves of sage, 50 ml (about 0,088 imperial pints) of extra virgin olive oil, 40 grams (0.09lbs) of flour, a glass of white wine (better if Lugana), salt, pepper, nutmeg, parsley and tarragon.
Start by cleaning, cutting, flouring and salting the tench. The heads are used to prepare the broth in a separate pot with half a litre (0.87 imperial pints) of salted water. Then the tench pieces are fry in a pan with extra virgin olive oil and butter, onion cut into small cubes and sage leaves. When the tench becomes golden in colour, remove it from the pan, filter the cooking liquid which will then be passed into another pan, leaving it to cook for 30 minutes, together with the peeled tomatoes, wine and herbs.
In the meantime, break up the tench and try to remove the skin and bones at best. The chopped tench must then be added to the mixture of tomatoes, spices and cooking liquid leaving everything to cook for another 20 minutes.
Once this is done, the rice can be cooked; start by frying the onion, toast the rice and add the tench and tomato mixture previously prepared. When the rice is cooked, slowly add ladles of broth prepared with the fish heads. At the end of cooking, the risotto must be amalgamated with butter and then served.
