Italy: Monte del Frà - Chiaretto di Bardolino 2024, Veneto (SQNPI-certified)

Grape varieties: Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara. 12% alcohol. Grown on calcareous, clayey, gravelly, sandy soils in vineyards just to the south east of Lake Garda. 

Translucent, pale pink in colour, the Bardolino Chiaretto Rosé is elegant with floral, fruity, herbaceous, aromas such as red currant, nectarine, lychee and a gentle touch of white pepper. Delicate flavours influence the aromas, resulting in a long, lingering finish.

This wine's scores from wine critics - ranging from 94 to 91 points (outstanding/highly recommended) - are mightily impressive for its humble price point. 

When you click on this producer's website, they say "one of the best Italian wineries in Veneto" - quite a bold statement given the vast size of this northeastern Italian region but given the consistent quality I've seen from them, this does hold true. 

Owned and run by the Bonomo family since 1958, the estate was originally founded as a monastery a few hundred years prior. It today encompasses 137 hectares/338 acres, while the family rent another 68 hectares/168 acres, spread across the Custoza, Valpolicella, Lugana, and Bardolino areas to the north and west of Verona.

Sustainability at Monte del Frà: they are SQNPI-certified, the Italian certificate for integrated farming, which involves green manure, sexual confusion, micro-drip irrigation, and zero chemical weeding. As well as local workforces and local raw materials, working with recycled paper, sustainable glass, and a circular use of energy and water resources. The extensive winery renovation and expansion project, which will be completed in the next few years, aims to achieve maximum production sustainability.

Bardolino - a town as well as a wine DOC - runs up Lake Garda's eastern side, almost half way up the lake. The area is dedicated to red and rosato (pink), known here as Chiaretto.

Monte del Frà's winery is roughly halfway between Verona (18km to the east) and Lake Garda (17km to the west) and the fruit for this wine is sourced nearby, in the municipality of Sommacampagna.

Bardolino's reds and Chiaretto pinks are famously delicately light, fruit-driven, and fragrant. They are GREAT food wines. 

What a wine this is! If you like the Provence style, then you'll be sure to love this too - especially given this has significantly more character than an equivalently-priced pink from Provence. 

Food Pairing:

Monte del Frà advise to drink this as an "excellent summer aperitif with friends. It goes well with pizza, Italian appetizers such as ham and melon or caprese, cold cuts, pasta, Asian and French cuisine, white meat and fish, barbecue and vegetarian cuisine". 

The winemaker's tasting notes:

"Translucent, pale pink. Elegant with floral, fruity, herbaceous aromas such as white flowers, berries, red currant, nectarine, apricot, lychee, melon, gentle touch of white pepper.

Dry, medium acidity, low tannin, medium body. Delicate flavours influence the aromas, resulting in a long finish. Drink it now, have fun with your celebrations!"

What the critics say:

These are mightily impressive scores at this price point.

94 points: Luca Maroni.it 

92 points: Falstaff Magazine 

91 points: "Outstanding", James Suckling.com

91 points: Winescritic.com

91 points: Kerin O'Keefe

16.5/20 points: Jancis Robinson MW