Vinous - 91 Points Falstaff – 94 Points Slowine - Top 100 Italian Rosés
Tasting Notes
The 2019 Guerrieri Rizzardi Keya leaps from the glass in a rich and ripe display, showing sweet honeydew melon, offset by hints of sage and mint, with sweet smoke and pretty florals. Silky textures then flood the senses with ripe fruits offset by a twang of zesty acids and minerals, also taking on a hint of tropical citrus. It finishes long yet vibrant, slowly sizzling away and just begging me to take another sip.
KEY-A is a play on the first two syllables of Chi-a-ret-to (KEY-A), pronounced KEE-AH. The name also signifies what the wine represents, as we have long thought that the real strength of the Bardolino vineyards lie in their ability to make world class rosé wines.
This rosé is made from selected plots throughout the Bardolino estate, planted in the villages of Cavaion and Bardolino, on the hills of the eastern side of Lake Garda. The soil type in this area is of glacial moraine origin with sandy-silty base. Pebble rock with high levels of magnesium and medium calcium. The age of the vine varies from 3 to 50 years old.
Regional factors such as a mild climate, the vineyards proximity to the lake, light soils and the grape characteristics of lighter skins in the varietals used (especially Corvina and Rondinella) combine to make a perfect recipe for great rosé.
Food Pairings
Rice salad, pasta salad; ham; fried fish; mashed aubergine (melitzanosalata).
Elaboration: Drawing of the vats after several hours of fermentation. Followed by vinification as a white for 10 -12 days at a temperature of 15°- 16° C in temperature controlled stainless steel vats. Aged 4+ months in temperature controlled stainless steel & concrete vats.
We produce estate grown, estate bottled wines from our vineyards in Valpolicella, Bardolino and Soave, each of which occupy prime positions within the Classico zones. We have for many years endeavoured to represent the best each region has to offer especially through our single vineyard wines.
Guerrieri Rizzardi, the historic house in Veneto, dates back to the unification of two ancient estates in 1913, when Carlo Rizzardi from Valpolicella, married Guiseppina Guerrieri of Bardolino.
The new winery is completely solar powered, combining the best that technology offers in a carbon neutral way with vineyards that have been in the family for centuries.
With the energy of the new younger generation in the family, Guerrieri-Rizzardi has experienced a renaissance of sorts over the last twenty years and is known throughout Europe as one of the finest, most classical producers in the region, with wines built on tension and “cut.”
Hi all! Short notice lab rat here, hopefully I can offer some useful perspective to the community. I’ll say this: when under a heat advisory for days on end, few things are more welcome than an unexpected UPS delivery of a bottle of rose. Clearly Alice and the WCC gang know how to put a reviewer in a good mood!
Executive summary of this wine: it’s straightforward, very fruity and aromatic, and was surprisingly enjoyable to a couple of tasters who are normally biased in the opposite direction. Truth is, we don’t normally enjoy roses made in this style. Rather, we like 'em bone dry, minerally, super-crisp… basically, we like them to be French. So on paper, this bottle isn’t for us. Indeed, if I visited the forum and read my own description of it, I would immediately say “nope, this one’s a hard pass.” But as it turns out, I’d be wrong. This bottle confounded our expectations – going in blind, we liked it a lot more than we would have expected to like it if you’d told us what it was.
Mrs. Z and I had basically identical reactions to this wine, no divergent tasting notes here. We chilled the wine in the fridge for 48 hours after arrival, then brought it out maybe 15 minutes before popping the cork and tasting. On P&P, both of us got a strong initial aroma of ripe strawberry, followed quickly by peach. First taste – reads significantly sweeter than we expected from the sniff. Notes of honey and maybe orange flower blossom. Think Ramos Gin Fizz… or walking through a meadow of wildflowers in the spring. (Just to be totally clear, this is not actually a “sweet” wine with a bunch of residual sugar. It’s just kind of a fruit bomb, in the nicest sense of that hackneyed phrase.)
As I said above, both of us immediately agreed that we quite liked it, even though it’s not at all our style and not a type of rose we would typically choose.
After first tasting, it was time for dinner – raw sashimi grade salmon lightly tossed with a poke-style mayo sauce, plus some brown rice cooked in dashi and quick-pickled veggies. In other words, a subtle summer meal without big sharp flavors. The wine was a pleasant pairing with the food, as you might expect. But the change in its taste was interesting – after a bite of salmon, the wine read as less sweet, less fruity, and more smooth and balanced. The best analogy I can give is that it suddenly tasted less like a pink wine and more like a well-made chardonnay with a decent but not excessive amount of malolactic fermentation – i.e., pleasantly buttery without being cloying, obnoxious, or competitive with the food. It was a good pairing, and it exposed a different dimension of the wine.
The label suggests serving the wine at cellar temperature rather than fully chilled. So after dinner, we let it sit for an hour or so and then tasted again. I’m not sure I agree with the label. At a warmer temperature, all the interesting fruit was gone, and it tasted much more one-note. It was fine, but no longer felt remarkable in any way. Maybe we’re just weirdos, but we liked it best on its own at fridge temp, and next-best in between bites of fish.
Bottom line, this wine was surprisingly pleasant for a couple of people who normally like their rose to remind them of the Sahara. Would it be our go-to pink sipper for a summer dinner pairing? Maybe not. I think perhaps its highest and best use is as an aperitif. (Like if you wanted to drink a nice Spanish vermouth but one of your guests hates anything bitter, knowwhudImean?) Regardless, this is a wine that’s not just good for what it is, it’s good even for those who think they don’t like what it is. And it’s hard to complain about the pricing, too. So look: I’m not saying I would kick the Gard Vintners Reserve out of bed to drink a bottle of this stuff. But if you showed up at my house and brought me a bottle of this? I wouldn’t complain in the slightest.
Questions? I’ll try to check back and respond promptly. Thanks again to Alice, David, et al for the lovely surprise!
@jakezim Great write-up! Like you, I love rosé dry and French/Rhone. GSM and Cinsaut, any of the above. But I also enjoy trying outside-the-envelope (or rather, outside “my” envelope) bottlings from Italy, Spain, California, and anywhere, really. I think I would love this at just over $8 (case price) based on your impressions. But, alas, no shipping to Michigan on this one.
@MarkDaSpark@rjquillin Mark, with your love of all wines dark and delicious I suspect you’ll enjoy an Amarone!
And to be fair, for some reason those wines don’t make it to the west coast as often as the east.
Good evening! As with @jakezim, this was a last minute surprise with us. The wine arrived here in the SF bay area just before the latest heat wave. It’s always exciting to get the box and guess what it’s going to be – and here we are.
To recap – I’m more a white wine person and my cohabitant sweetie likes much heartier reds. His only fav among whites is a viognier. That said, neither of us drink much rose, so this was fun!
Wednesday evening I put the wine in the fridge to chill briefly. We gave it about an hour, and brought it out – probably a little bit over the “recommended” 50-55 degrees. Poured and tasted.
Initial reactions: fruit on the nose, a bit dry on the palate, more like a “pale rose” than anything else. My partner tasted it without seeing the bottle and said he found it “puzzling.” When I showed it to him, he immediately had an “Oh, Italian!” moment. He explained that he tends to find Italian wines “one note” and not to his tastes.
I don’t have that concern, but I found it less enjoyable than I hoped. (I like pink! I was predisposed to enjoy a rose! But it just…wasn’t there for me.)
We both agreed it might not have chilled enough, so we popped it in the fridge for another time.
Fast forward to this evening, when I am JUST about to end my day when I remember LAB RAT! So, we pulled the bottle out, where it had been chilling for two days. MUCH BETTER! Now it’s pleasantly fruity on the nose, zingy on the tongue. Not a hint of bubbles, just a bit of dryness. As another lab rat mentioned, it’s not that it’s sweet, it’s that it evokes sweetness.
My partner says
I normally conceptualize rose wines as being on the sweet end of things. So it was something of a surprise when the Keya to me resembled a dry white wine – closer to a chardonnay or a sauvignon blanc. Nose has earthy, mineral notes (but then I think most white wines have that). Quite tart, but not a lot of complexity here.Lingering finish, but not syrupy. Really wants to be chilled.
I find it charming – light fruit scents of melon and strawberry, balanced on the palate, but not particularly complex. I will tell you that after initially tasting this evening, I put a splash of St. Germain (elderflower liqueur) in it and found that lovely, then added a bit of ice and it was also fine. The bottle is also 2/3rds gone, so clearly it’s doing something right.
Would I seek it out? Perhaps no. However, it was 88 degrees here today, we don’t have AC, and this glass is hitting the SPOT as a light summer refresher of a wine. It’s also a great deal. I would gift it without reservation for a summer party, if there weren’t a pandemic and we were able to have summer parties.
Vinous: (that’s the Vinous review in tasting notes above)
“The 2019 Guerrieri Rizzardi Keya leaps from the glass in a rich and ripe display, showing sweet honeydew melon, offset by hints of sage and mint, with sweet smoke and pretty florals. Silky textures then flood the senses with ripe fruits offset by a twang of zesty acids and minerals, also taking on a hint of tropical citrus. It finishes long yet vibrant, slowly sizzling away and just begging me to take another sip.” – Eric Guido
Decanter:
Tasted by James Button (at Windsor, 22 Jul 2020)
Part of Light summer reds and rosés from the shores of Lake Garda: Bardolino and Chiaretto
89 Points. From vineyards in Cavaion and Bardolino, this Classico is full of strawberry, raspberry and wild herb aromas, leading to a palate that’s broad and fleshy. Flavours of creamy cherry and raspberry fruits are joined by a touch of spice. It’s very Provencal in style and finishes bone dry with delightfully fresh acidity. Drink with grilled seafood or antipasti. Drinking Window 2020 - 2021.
Falstaff:
Tasting Note: Leuchtendes Lachsrosa. Offenherzige und einladende Nase, nach sattem Pfirsich, Erdbeeren, zarter Bourbon-Vanille, feines Duft-Spiel. Ausgewogener Trunk, sehr fruchtig und fein, spannt einen schönen Fächer, lebendig und knackig bis ins Finale. 94 Points.
Or for those of you German language challenged…
Bright salmon pink. Open and inviting nose, of rich peach, strawberries, delicate bourbon vanilla, fine play of fragrances. Balanced drink, very fruity and fine, fans out beautifully, lively and crisp to the finale. 94 points
Wine Enthusiast of course:
89 Points. Pretty aromas of spring blossom and peach waft out of the glass. On the vibrant, refreshing palate, crisp acidity lifts sour cherry, red currant and a hint of white pepper. KO 8/1/20
I rarely meet an Italian (or French) rose that I don’t like, so in for a case. Plus, I figure we have at least another 6 weeks of hot here in SC and rose is perfect for hot weather.
I do take issue with the food pairings, though. Melitzanosalata is Greek. That should be changed to Caponata. (Italian marinated eggplant salad/dip.)
Any SoCal (SD) interest in bottles?
As with @MarkDaSpark both Corvina and Rondinella are on the Century Club (100 Varietals) spreadsheet. And I’m missing both and interested in a bottle or two, three…
How much more would you have saved by buying a full case? (Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2019 Guerrieri Rizzardi “Keya” Chiaretto Rosé - $30 = 23.07%
2019 Guerrieri Rizzardi “Keya” Chiaretto Rosé
Vinous - 91 Points
Falstaff – 94 Points
Slowine - Top 100 Italian Rosés
Tasting Notes
Food Pairings
Specs
What’s Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$191.88/Case at Guerrieri Rizzardi for 12x 2019 Guerrieri Rizzardi “Keya” Chiaretto Rosé
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Tuesday, Sep 7
Guerrieri Rizzardi “Keya” Chiaretto Rosé
6 bottles for $64.99 $10.83/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $99.99 $8.33/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2019 Guerrieri Rizzardi “Keya” Chiaretto Rosé
Hi all! Short notice lab rat here, hopefully I can offer some useful perspective to the community. I’ll say this: when under a heat advisory for days on end, few things are more welcome than an unexpected UPS delivery of a bottle of rose. Clearly Alice and the WCC gang know how to put a reviewer in a good mood!
Executive summary of this wine: it’s straightforward, very fruity and aromatic, and was surprisingly enjoyable to a couple of tasters who are normally biased in the opposite direction. Truth is, we don’t normally enjoy roses made in this style. Rather, we like 'em bone dry, minerally, super-crisp… basically, we like them to be French. So on paper, this bottle isn’t for us. Indeed, if I visited the forum and read my own description of it, I would immediately say “nope, this one’s a hard pass.” But as it turns out, I’d be wrong. This bottle confounded our expectations – going in blind, we liked it a lot more than we would have expected to like it if you’d told us what it was.
Mrs. Z and I had basically identical reactions to this wine, no divergent tasting notes here. We chilled the wine in the fridge for 48 hours after arrival, then brought it out maybe 15 minutes before popping the cork and tasting. On P&P, both of us got a strong initial aroma of ripe strawberry, followed quickly by peach. First taste – reads significantly sweeter than we expected from the sniff. Notes of honey and maybe orange flower blossom. Think Ramos Gin Fizz… or walking through a meadow of wildflowers in the spring. (Just to be totally clear, this is not actually a “sweet” wine with a bunch of residual sugar. It’s just kind of a fruit bomb, in the nicest sense of that hackneyed phrase.)
As I said above, both of us immediately agreed that we quite liked it, even though it’s not at all our style and not a type of rose we would typically choose.
After first tasting, it was time for dinner – raw sashimi grade salmon lightly tossed with a poke-style mayo sauce, plus some brown rice cooked in dashi and quick-pickled veggies. In other words, a subtle summer meal without big sharp flavors. The wine was a pleasant pairing with the food, as you might expect. But the change in its taste was interesting – after a bite of salmon, the wine read as less sweet, less fruity, and more smooth and balanced. The best analogy I can give is that it suddenly tasted less like a pink wine and more like a well-made chardonnay with a decent but not excessive amount of malolactic fermentation – i.e., pleasantly buttery without being cloying, obnoxious, or competitive with the food. It was a good pairing, and it exposed a different dimension of the wine.
The label suggests serving the wine at cellar temperature rather than fully chilled. So after dinner, we let it sit for an hour or so and then tasted again. I’m not sure I agree with the label. At a warmer temperature, all the interesting fruit was gone, and it tasted much more one-note. It was fine, but no longer felt remarkable in any way. Maybe we’re just weirdos, but we liked it best on its own at fridge temp, and next-best in between bites of fish.
Bottom line, this wine was surprisingly pleasant for a couple of people who normally like their rose to remind them of the Sahara. Would it be our go-to pink sipper for a summer dinner pairing? Maybe not. I think perhaps its highest and best use is as an aperitif. (Like if you wanted to drink a nice Spanish vermouth but one of your guests hates anything bitter, knowwhudImean?) Regardless, this is a wine that’s not just good for what it is, it’s good even for those who think they don’t like what it is. And it’s hard to complain about the pricing, too. So look: I’m not saying I would kick the Gard Vintners Reserve out of bed to drink a bottle of this stuff. But if you showed up at my house and brought me a bottle of this? I wouldn’t complain in the slightest.
Questions? I’ll try to check back and respond promptly. Thanks again to Alice, David, et al for the lovely surprise!
@jakezim Great write-up! Like you, I love rosé dry and French/Rhone. GSM and Cinsaut, any of the above. But I also enjoy trying outside-the-envelope (or rather, outside “my” envelope) bottlings from Italy, Spain, California, and anywhere, really. I think I would love this at just over $8 (case price) based on your impressions. But, alas, no shipping to Michigan on this one.
FYI, both Corvina and Rondinella are on the Century Club (100 Varietals) spreadsheet. And I’m missing both!
@MarkDaSpark Is that group still active and issuing certificates?
Split a small order?
@rjquillin. Hopefully! And sure … 2 bottles?
@MarkDaSpark You want to grab them then?
Thanks.
@MarkDaSpark @rjquillin have neither of you had an Amarone or Ripasso before? Those are both base on Corvina and Rondinella.
@klezman @MarkDaSpark
Call me ignorant, learned something.
@klezman @MarkDaSpark @rjquillin
Lol why do you put a bullseye on your forehead for me
@klezman @rjquillin
Actually, not sure I’ve had either. I believe I’ve bought an Amarone, but haven’t opened it yet.
@MarkDaSpark @rjquillin Mark, with your love of all wines dark and delicious I suspect you’ll enjoy an Amarone!
And to be fair, for some reason those wines don’t make it to the west coast as often as the east.
Good evening! As with @jakezim, this was a last minute surprise with us. The wine arrived here in the SF bay area just before the latest heat wave. It’s always exciting to get the box and guess what it’s going to be – and here we are.
To recap – I’m more a white wine person and my cohabitant sweetie likes much heartier reds. His only fav among whites is a viognier. That said, neither of us drink much rose, so this was fun!
Wednesday evening I put the wine in the fridge to chill briefly. We gave it about an hour, and brought it out – probably a little bit over the “recommended” 50-55 degrees. Poured and tasted.
Initial reactions: fruit on the nose, a bit dry on the palate, more like a “pale rose” than anything else. My partner tasted it without seeing the bottle and said he found it “puzzling.” When I showed it to him, he immediately had an “Oh, Italian!” moment. He explained that he tends to find Italian wines “one note” and not to his tastes.
I don’t have that concern, but I found it less enjoyable than I hoped. (I like pink! I was predisposed to enjoy a rose! But it just…wasn’t there for me.)
We both agreed it might not have chilled enough, so we popped it in the fridge for another time.
Fast forward to this evening, when I am JUST about to end my day when I remember LAB RAT! So, we pulled the bottle out, where it had been chilling for two days. MUCH BETTER! Now it’s pleasantly fruity on the nose, zingy on the tongue. Not a hint of bubbles, just a bit of dryness. As another lab rat mentioned, it’s not that it’s sweet, it’s that it evokes sweetness.
My partner says
I normally conceptualize rose wines as being on the sweet end of things. So it was something of a surprise when the Keya to me resembled a dry white wine – closer to a chardonnay or a sauvignon blanc. Nose has earthy, mineral notes (but then I think most white wines have that). Quite tart, but not a lot of complexity here.Lingering finish, but not syrupy. Really wants to be chilled.
I find it charming – light fruit scents of melon and strawberry, balanced on the palate, but not particularly complex. I will tell you that after initially tasting this evening, I put a splash of St. Germain (elderflower liqueur) in it and found that lovely, then added a bit of ice and it was also fine. The bottle is also 2/3rds gone, so clearly it’s doing something right.
Would I seek it out? Perhaps no. However, it was 88 degrees here today, we don’t have AC, and this glass is hitting the SPOT as a light summer refresher of a wine. It’s also a great deal. I would gift it without reservation for a summer party, if there weren’t a pandemic and we were able to have summer parties.
Pros say…
Vinous: (that’s the Vinous review in tasting notes above)
“The 2019 Guerrieri Rizzardi Keya leaps from the glass in a rich and ripe display, showing sweet honeydew melon, offset by hints of sage and mint, with sweet smoke and pretty florals. Silky textures then flood the senses with ripe fruits offset by a twang of zesty acids and minerals, also taking on a hint of tropical citrus. It finishes long yet vibrant, slowly sizzling away and just begging me to take another sip.” – Eric Guido
Decanter:
Tasted by James Button (at Windsor, 22 Jul 2020)
Part of Light summer reds and rosés from the shores of Lake Garda: Bardolino and Chiaretto
89 Points. From vineyards in Cavaion and Bardolino, this Classico is full of strawberry, raspberry and wild herb aromas, leading to a palate that’s broad and fleshy. Flavours of creamy cherry and raspberry fruits are joined by a touch of spice. It’s very Provencal in style and finishes bone dry with delightfully fresh acidity. Drink with grilled seafood or antipasti. Drinking Window 2020 - 2021.
Falstaff:
Tasting Note: Leuchtendes Lachsrosa. Offenherzige und einladende Nase, nach sattem Pfirsich, Erdbeeren, zarter Bourbon-Vanille, feines Duft-Spiel. Ausgewogener Trunk, sehr fruchtig und fein, spannt einen schönen Fächer, lebendig und knackig bis ins Finale. 94 Points.
Or for those of you German language challenged…
Bright salmon pink. Open and inviting nose, of rich peach, strawberries, delicate bourbon vanilla, fine play of fragrances. Balanced drink, very fruity and fine, fans out beautifully, lively and crisp to the finale. 94 points
Wine Enthusiast of course:
89 Points. Pretty aromas of spring blossom and peach waft out of the glass. On the vibrant, refreshing palate, crisp acidity lifts sour cherry, red currant and a hint of white pepper. KO 8/1/20
https://www.winemag.com/buying-guide/guerrieri-rizzardi-2019-classico-keya-bardolino-chiaretto/
fwiw
@kaolis Huh. I didn’t find it “bone dry.” There are times I think I’m drinking a different wine!
@TrinSF Yeah that stuck out to me too, particularly with the specs.
I was missing some rose already, and I can’t resist wines from my region, so… In for a case!
I rarely meet an Italian (or French) rose that I don’t like, so in for a case. Plus, I figure we have at least another 6 weeks of hot here in SC and rose is perfect for hot weather.
I do take issue with the food pairings, though. Melitzanosalata is Greek.
That should be changed to Caponata. (Italian marinated eggplant salad/dip.)
Any SoCal (SD) interest in bottles?
As with @MarkDaSpark both Corvina and Rondinella are on the Century Club (100 Varietals) spreadsheet. And I’m missing both and interested in a bottle or two, three…
How much more would you have saved by buying a full case? (Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2019 Guerrieri Rizzardi “Keya” Chiaretto Rosé - $30 = 23.07%