By Greg O’Keefe, Winemaker, Michelini Wines, Alpine Valleys, Victoria
First published in the May/June 2015 issue of the Wine & Viticulture Journal
HISTORY
Known as the Royal Wine of Trentino, Teroldego is an indigenous variety of the Trentino-Alto Adige region in northern Italy.
It is planted almost exclusively in Campo Rotaliano, in the Adige Valley north of Trento, and its sole appellation of origin is Teroldigo Rotaliano DOC, which was declared on 18 February 1971. Currently it is planted on 390.5 hectares and is cultivated by more than 300 producers in the region.
The name Teroldego is thought to arise from its traditional method of cultivation, trained on a system of ‘tirelle’ or wire harnesses.
In 1851 the Michelini family began growing grapes and making wine in the Trentino-Alto Adige region of the Italian Alps.
Arriving in Sydney in 1949 at the age of 25, Emo Michelini commenced planting the Michelini Vineyard in 1982 in the cool Buckland Valley near Bright, in north-east Victoria.
Whilst the initial vineyard was planted by Emo and his sons Ilario and Dino to sparkling wine varietals Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the vineyard was expanded to 40ha in 1992 and included around 0.4ha of Marzemino (another northern Italian varietal related to Teroldego which was primarily grown south of Trentino) which has been made into wine and sold under the Michelini label since the first release of wines from the 1997 season.
Emo remembered the wine produced from Teroldego, grown in his home town of Rovereto. “This is the wine,” he would insist. “You never get better than this one!”
It later emerged that a great uncle had brought some Teroldego over from Italy many years ago and an experimental wine was made in 2004 from around 100kg of fruit at 24.5 Brix, harvested on 14 April in a large open top fermenter to allow optimum extraction of body and colour before pressing and maturation in a small stainless steel barrel.
Showing amazing depth of colour, the wine was bottled under cork and entered into the 2004 Australian Alternative Variety Wine Show, in Mildura, where it received a bronze medal equivalent for experimental wines.
Following the success of this initial trial, cuttings were taken to provide planting material for around 0.4ha on 101-14 Mgt rootstock in the spring of 2005.
VITICULTURE
From the limited amount of literature available, Teroldego is reported to be a hardy, vigorous and potentially prolific cool-climate vine, best suited to permeable, well-drained soils.
It is recognisable by large, pentagonal, three-lobed leaves and the compact, elongated, pyramidal bunches support medium to small, round, blue black berries with thick, resistant skins. The fruit is low in tannin but high in aroma, colour, extract, acidity, sugar and potential alcohol.
We have observed that in our vineyard, Teroldego grows in a fairly similar manner to its northern Italian relative, Marzemino. It has moderate vigour on a single wire VSP trellis with upright growing habit, late budburst around mid-October and earlier harvest than Marzemino in early April with moderate yield around 8 tonnes per hectare. The variety is moderately thick skinned and, so, more resistant to disease than Sangiovese and with higher natural acidity similar to Barbera.
WINEMAKING
Our first commercial Teroldego harvest was on 28 March 2008 with maturity figures 24.5 Brix, pH3.74 and 7.5g/L TA. The fruit was machine harvested and transferred to the winery in Myrtleford to be crushed into two-tonne stainless steel open fermenting tanks.
The fruit was allowed to soak for two days with moderate SO2 addition of around 50ppm prior to addition of ICV-D254 yeast. Fermentation started almost immediately and proceeded for about five to seven days on skins with regular pump overs at moderate temperature (25-28°C) prior to pressing in a modern airbag press. The wine was then transferred to oak in a heated room to complete primary and malolactic fermentation.
Following the fermentation process, the wine was racked to tank, pH adjusted to around 3.50, 100ppm SO2 added and then transferred to one-year-old French oak barriques for maturation with a view to bottling around mid-2009. Minimum SO2 levels around 40ppm free and 80ppm total were maintained throughout the maturation period.
Typically we would bottle our red wines after just 12 months in oak, but it was becoming clear the wine was just not ready as the tannins were still quite fresh and strong, typical of Teroldego from a low cropping or warmer year such as 2008.
During a tasting with other local winemakers in January 2009 at the cellar door in Myrtleford, it was agreed that this wine needed more time to come together, and that it should be reviewed in another year’s time.
The second commercial Teroldego was harvested on 8 April 2009 at 24.1 Brix, 7.7g/L acidity and pH3.55. This wine was made in a similar manner to that above and was tasted together with the 2008 wine at a tasting in January 2010. The 2009 wine was bright in colour but had much softer tannins.
The group came to the conclusion that although the 2008 was the better wine, the 2009 would develop more quickly and, so, a decision was taken to release the 2009 wine in the standard Michelini range and the 2008 in the premium Emo Selection reserve range.
Both wines were filtered through sterile sheets and finally a sterile membrane on the way to filling into glass, sealing under screwcap and packed into 12 bottle cartons.
The 2008 Emo Selection Teroldego went on to win the gold medal and trophy for ‘Chairman’s Wine to Watch’ at the 2010 Australian Alternative Varieties Wine (AAVWS) show and the 2009 wine was awarded a silver medal.
Since then we have released a single varietal Teroldego from the 2010, 2011 and 2012 vintages which have been awarded a further silver and gold medal at subsequent AAVWS events.
MARKETING
In September 2006 Michelini Wines released the first of our premium wines under the Emo Selection range, a 2004 Merlot which has been very well received. Unfortunately, Emo passed away just a few weeks short of bottling and this wine was released in his memory.
The 2008 Emo Selection Teroldego was released at a Long Pasta Lunch held at the winery in conjunction with the 2010 La Fiera festival held in Myrtleford in May to coincide with the Italian Connection Rally from Sydney to Melbourne.
Around 100 people were treated to a four course lunch produced by local chef Frank Martinez, of Sole e Luna in nearby Bright, and the wine was matched to beef lasagna.
Both wines are packaged in premium antique green claret glass. The Emo Selection wine is subtly different in that it has a brown screwcap and Emo Selection appears on the front label, whilst the standard wine has a black screwcap.
The wine works well with our other Italian varietals including Pinot Grigio, Barbera, Sangiovese, Marzemino and Fragolino to provide a real alternative to the mainstream offering at other locations, and visitors to cellar door are enjoying the difference.
Teroldego
By Peter Dry, Emeritus Fellow, The Australian Wine Research Institute
Background
Teroldego (teh-ROHLL-deh-goh) has been known in Trentino in north west Italy for many centuries. It has an interesting family tree because it is a full sibling of Dureza (a parent of Shiraz) and a parent of both Marzemino and Lagrein (the other parent is unknown). Synonyms include Merlina, Teroldega, Teroldeghe, Teroldico, Teroldigo, Tirodola and Tiroldegho. It has had its own DOC in Trentino-Alto Adige since 1971: Teroldego Rotaliano for both red and rose wines. It is also used as minor component in other DOCs in Trentino-Alto Adige; and grown in Veneto and Valtellina to a small extent. Globally there were 839 ha in 2010 (up 23% from 2000), close to 100% in Italy. There are also small areas in USA (California) and Brazil. In Australia there are currently at least 4 wine producers in WA, Vic. and SA.
Viticulture
Budburst is midseason and maturity is mid to late. Vigour is moderate with erect growth habit. Bunches are small and compact with small to medium tough-skinned berries. Yield is usually moderate. Cane pruning is used in Italy but spur pruning has also been used Australia. Teroldego has low susceptibility to downy and powdery mildews, but high susceptibility to bunchstem necrosis.
Wine
Teroldego wines are deeply coloured, fresh and fruity. When yield is restricted and full maturity is achieved, wines have ripe tannin with good acid balance. Descriptors include dark fruits particularly black cherry, spicy, herbal and bitter almond. Moderate tannin levels suit early drinking styles. The natural acidity of Teroldego is high and reports suggest that it was in danger of decline in Italy due to this characteristic; however, this could have been a consequence of inappropriate site selection. Such a tendency to high acid is unlikely to be a negative attribute in warm to hot regions in Australia.
