Gotta Taste a Rebo!

A chance to taste the Rebo grape? Yes, please! I love tasting wines made with relatively new grape varieties, especially when they are hard to find. Rebo is a crossing of Merlot and Teroldego created in 1948 in Trentino by Rebo Rigotti. (I might name a grape this cool after myself, too.) Through this deeply colored variety, the broad suppleness of Merlot meets the raving acidity of Teroldego. 

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Pratello 2017 Garda Rosso Mille1 14% $20
Hailing from Lombardy (to the east of Trentino in northern Italy), the Garda Rosso Mille1 is Rebo blended with an equal portion of Corvina and 20% Merlot. This wine definitely matched my expectations for its grape components. First and foremost is the fruit generosity, for which all three grapes are known. The nose is full of plush forest berries and succulent black plums. This intensity is amplified by the appassimento, or drying à la raisining, that the Merlot undergoes. The palate adds in a rustic, damp forest floor note and layer upon layer of textures. Though ripe, the tannins are a bit scratchy - like a cozy wool blanket - and are amplified by the vivid acidity. It's wine best saved to enjoy with food - especially as there are no obvious flavor traces of the short aging in large oak barrels, despite the juiciness of the mid-palate. Sporting a modest finish, this is a fun wine with a reasonable price point and a refreshingly fun, modern label. 
Drink: 2020-22