This Italian red wine variety is prized for producing wines with firm tannins and good colour, particularly in its native Trentino and Alto Aldige regions of Northern Italy. It is now being used by over forty Australian producers.
In Northern Italy Lagrein is used to make varietal and blended red wines, the main blending partner is Schiava Grossa. It is also used to make rose style wines.
Here is what some wine writers say about Lagrein
Very well connected, distictively fruity but sometimes rustic - Jancis Robinson in Wine Grapes
Sour plums with a touch of grass and bitter cherries some dark chocolate and a deep dark colour - Oz Clarke in Grapes and Wines
Tannic, spicy, tobacco, black plums, grassy herbaceous, earthy, fragrant - Steve De Long Wine Varietal Table
There are now about forty producers of wine from this variety in Australia, up from about zero at the start of this century.
The interesting thing is that although this variety hails from the cooler northern region of Italy it is being used very successfully in the warmer Australian regions of Murray Darling and Riverland.
Rita Richter of Grey Sands winery in Northern Tasmania suggests
A possible reason for Lagrein doing well in Riverland is that, although it comes from northern Italy where it gets snow it winter, maybe it gets pulses of high heat in summer - ie the 'continental effect'.
You can read about how wine enthusiast Peter May encouraged the first Australian commercial planting of Lagrein vines
At the 2020 Alternative Varietal Wine Show (AAVWS) just 9 wines were judged in the Lagrein class. Nine were judged as medal worthy. Next Crop 2017 Langhorne Creek Lagrein and SAMU 2108 Riverland won the Gold medals. Three Silver medals and four Bronze medals were also awarded.
The Italian origin of the variety suggests Italian food but I would suggest it would go better with heartier Italian dishes such as osso bucco, brasato (beef braised in red wine), grilled fennel sausages or perhaps with a grilled steak with anchovy butter.
You could also try Lagrein with sharp vintage cheese, crackers and dried fruit.
You can find some wine of this variety at this online wine merchant. you can make up your own mixed cases. And you have the convenience of ordering from home and getting your wine delivered.
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