The name is a bit of a mouthful. The wine is too, and a nice one at that.

This was a sample from Mitchell’s in Dublin’s CHQ that I have been storing for around 6 months now. Truth be told, I’d forgotten I had it and I discovered it while looking for a pair of socks. There must have been a good reason for storing it in the sock drawer.

I find these lost treasures from time to time in the nooks and crannies in the house or office and they’re a nice surprise.

Such is the life of a wine bloggeur (if it catches on, bloggeur could be my finest contribution to wine blogging, and by adding just one letter it elevates us above the riff raff bloggers out there. Sometimes the best ideas are often the simplest).

Back to the wine

Let’s tackle the name first before getting stuck into the wine.

Mezzacorona are the producers and Teroldego Rotaliano, the wine with the grape being Teroldego.

It’s made in Trentino, up north close to the Swiss, German and Austrian borders.

So, what is it actually like?

I imagine, as I can only speculate, what when people say things like ” Oh, I love Italian wine”, this is what they mean.

There’s great fruit, and despite being heavy bodied, a lovely acidity which keeps it tasting fresh all the way through. There’s also a bit of a bite. The tannins give the wine a nice dryness. All these virtues taken together make it a great wine, particularly when paired with red meat. Delicioso.

* One tip, decant it for an hour or two to get the best out of it.

Available from Mitchell’s and other retailers for around €13-€14.