One of the best known Italian wines. The vineyards of Bardolino overlook Lake Garda, an alpine environment mixed with the colours and fragrances of the Mediterranean, hence the name”riviera degli Olivi”.

The winery is built into the side of a hill in Campazzi at the heart of Bardolino Classico. Within ten minutes grapes from any of the estate’s 39 Bardolino vineyards can be at the crusher. From here the juice is gravity fed to the tanks, everything is done to preserve the freshness of the fruit which is vital to the success of Bardolino Classico wines.

The estate’s Bardolino Classico has an aromatic nose of mixed berries an approachable style with complex flavour. Serve slightly chilled with vegetarian or white meat based dishes including chicken, turkey, pork or rabbit.

Ageing potential: up to 2 years

Vineyards: From estate vineyards planted on some of the best hillside vineyards in the Classico DOC,
around the villages of Bardolino & Cavaion. Cuvée signifies that this is a specific selection, and
the XV = 15th century, when the Bardolino estate was first started by the family’s ancestors.

Soil: Pebbly soil originating from glacial moraines with sandy-silty base, medium calcareous. High levels of magnesium

Traning: Simple guyot, pergola, casarsa and cordone speronato.
Vine Density: Between 1,500 and 5,000 vines per hectare
Rootstock: 161.49 C, 3309C, 420 A, SO4
Vine Age: 3 to 25 years
Harvest: Hand and machine harvested depending on site

Winemaking: Grapes are destemmed and crushed and alcoholic fermentation is carried out over 5-15 days in temperature controlled stainless steel vats at 20-28°C followed by malolactic fermentation in vats.
Maturation: 3-12 months in temperature controlled stainless steel and concrete vats.
First Bottling: March 21st 2023
ABV: 13.5% 
Total Acidity: 5.04 g/l
pH: 3.57
Residual Sugar: 2.5 g/l

Tasting Notes: Cuvée XV is a quality selection of our vats and we strive each year to make a Bardolino with personality and intensity, although in no way heavy the wine has more depth and fruit
concentration than is typical of the DOC. (tasted March 2023 DS).

Medium bodied, red wine made from the blend of mainly local and some international grape varieties grown on our estate, hillside vineyards in Bardolino.

Unoaked.

Food: White meat (poultry/rabbit); mozzarella; creamy cow milk cheese, like mascarpone; dim-sum

Best to Drink: 1 to 4 years from the vintage.

The oldest part of Guerrieri Rizzardi exists in Bardolino where the Rambaldi family (ancestors of the Guerrieri) developed an estate in the 15th century. Close by and a century later in Negrar di Valpolicella the Rizzardi family bought the estate of Pojega. These two families were later joined by marriage almost three centuries later.

Today, Guerrieri Rizzardi has reached the next generation with Giuseppe, Olimpia and Agostino Rizzardi. Inheriting a great passion for wine and love for the territory, with them the new eco winery was completed on the hills of Bardolino in 2011; it is the company’s headquarters, a perfect fusion between ancient and modern. In 2014 the Amarone Calcarole became the first wine from the region ever to be awarded Red Wine of the Year by Gambero Rosso.

ECO-FRIENDLY
GREEN WINERY
In 2011 the new winery just outside the town of Bardolino was completed. The winery was designed to be energy self-sufficient with its solar panels (2000 m²) providing more energy than is actually used. Other choices: outdoor fermentation tanks for red wines (using the sun’s energy to reach fermentation temperature), a gravity system to bring the juice (must) from the receiver to the fermentation tanks, the water used in production in from our own well, all have their green benefits.

IN THE VINEYARDS
We are committed to limiting the amount of artificial pest and weed control products used in the vineyards, for this purpose we intentionally planted on the edges of the vineyards shrubs and trees deliberately chosen to attract beneficial insects (able to keep pests under control).
The latest project was to seed in between the rows of vines, plants such as pea, vetch and clovers which when mowed in the summer act as natural fertilizers. In addition, in some vineyards, we opt for mechanical weeding, as shown here in the vineyard to the right. In 2016 we purchased a 4 hectare, organically certified vineyard on the hillside of Rocca del Garda.

PACKAGING/RECYCLED
We opt to use light weight glass bottles for almost all of our wines and everything that is used daily in the winery for production purposes is recycled. Recycling ranges from the glass and corks of the bottles used for tasting to the paper in the office to the cardboard/plastic wrapping of all dry goods.