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COVER STORY 68 / the tasting panel / may 2018 Mezzacorona 2017 Pinot Grigio, Trentino DOC Like all Mezzacorona wines, the Pinot Grigio is 100% estate-grown and -bottled, as well as sustainably farmed in accordance with Italian winemaking regulations. The pure, steel-fermented style evinces floral, mineral, lemon, and Pippin apple qualities; crisp and airy, it shows a sliver of fruitiness in its finish. Mezzacorona 2016 Vigneti Cliffhanger Vineyards Pinot Grigio, Trentino DOC This partially-barrel-fermented wine is slightly fuller yet still sleek and medium- bodied; long and fluid on the palate, it exhibits an apple skin aroma and stony tactile sensations. Mezzacorona 2016 Chardonnay, Dolomiti IGT The positively-restrained clarity of fruit is marked by fresh apple and peach fuzz notes in a moderately- full (13% ABV) body, with a palate- scrubbing complexity in the finish. Mezzacorona 2016 Rosé, Dolomiti IGT If you're looking for mountain-grown rosé that stands out from the crowd, this is it. This 100% Lagrein pushes watermelon, raspberry, and rose petal–nuanced fruit tinged with mineral and baking spice. Structurally, the wine offers the slightest grip of skin tannin through its firmly dry, meaty flavors. Mezza di Mezzacorona Italian Glacial Bubbly, Dolomiti IGT A very "alpine" blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, and Müller-Thurgau, this wine has a lemon cream pie/pineapple perfume. A smidgen of yeastiness creeps into its lightly-sweet, foamy, and prickly flavors. Mezzacorona 2015 Pinot Noir, Dolomiti IGT There's tons of bang for your buck in this fruit-focused varietal rendering, which carries strawberry notes with twists of pepper and shavings of cin- namon stick. The soft tannic structure is filled out by mildly digestivi-like cherry pit sensations. Mezzacorona 2015 Vigneti Cliffhanger Vineyards Proprietary Red Blend, Dolomiti IGT This blend of Teroldego (70%) and Lagrein (30%) is an amazing value at this price, with an inky color and nose saturated in plump black- berry/black cherry fruit with sugges- tions of pomegranate syrup. Tannins are mildly gripping in the meaty, medium body (a moderate 13% ABV), while coffee spice and earthen notes mix with dark fruit sensations. Mezzacorona 2009 NOS Teroldego Riserva, Rotaliano DOC The purplish- red color all the way to the rim belies this bottling's age. The concentrated black cherry aroma is filled out by pep- pery, loamy/earthy mineral notes; fairly full at 13.5% ABV, this wine is thick and muscled with tannins yet also svelte and pliant. The earthy fruit flavors push through the fibrous texturing. Tasting Notes Elevating Trentino's Indigenous Varieties Trentino—or more specifically, the Piana Rotaliana alluvial plain—is also home to the red Teroldego grape, another member of Mezzacorona's portfolio. Because it cannot be found in any other region of Italy, "Teroldego is 100-percent Trentino," Matricardi says. "We call our Teroldego 'NOS,' which in the local dialect is the name for the Noce river. It created the area where our Teroldego plantings are concen- trated—a plateau at about a 250-meter [820-feet] elevation, primarily alluvial with river rock soils at least ten meters deep," he adds. "Teroldego loves this kind of soil." The indigenous Lagrein grape also has a long history in Trentino: a his- tory that overlaps that of Teroldego. Matricardi says Lagrein is ideal for rosé due to its "beautiful color, Mezzacorona's Lagrein grapes are grown in Trentino sites more than 1,300 feet above sea level.