Published by Jeremy.
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When out at a local wine shop, we stumbled upon a bottle of Rodaro's Schioppettino and, given that it was a new grape for us, we naturally scooped it up right away.
But as this one is made with grapes that were allowed to raisinate, and clocked in at a robust 15% ABV, we never quite knew the right time to open this one. Cue a meal of Moroccan-spiced lamb and we knew what bottle we had to reach for.
This one was quite the treat.
Rodaro's Schioppettino is a Robust Wine
This Schioppettino from Colli Orientali del Friuli in northeast Italy was medium ruby in color with medium aromas of dried black cherry, cedar, leather, clove, cassis, dried cranberry, tobacco, date, prune, and fig.
On the palate, it was dry with medium(+) acidity, medium smooth tannin, body, and flavor intensity, high alcohol, and a long finish. We had notes of dried black cherry, blackberry, clove, cassis, leather, tobacco, cedar, sandalwood, dried cranberry, wet leaves, caramel, and stewed prune.
This one was quite the robust wine that reminded us a lot of an Amarone della Valpolicella. The high alcohol certainly hits you, but the dried and stewed fruit notes were quite enjoyable all around.
Schioppettino Food Pairing – Moroccan Lamb
We paired this Schioppettino with a Moroccan-inspired lamb dish with braised lamb served on top of roasted winter vegetables and couscous. The lamb was well seasoned with an array of spices, and between that and the richness of the meat made for quite a nice pairing- we had a spike in more red fruits that were a bit underlying in the wine, plus fig and baking spices as well.
The irony of this pairing is that I had forgotten that this bottle of wine used dried grapes before opening it, and originally was considering popping an Amarone to pair instead. It was only when tasting the bottle that we read the back label and realized the grapes were dried that we remembered that detail for this wine, and thought it was a bit ironic that we grabbed this one instead.
So pair this one with spiced game- you won't regret it!
Score: 4 / 5
We'd buy another bottle of this one.
Overall, this was a really nice Schioppettino and we liked the robust flavors that came with drying the grapes out in the sun for a few weeks. Throw on that this bottle was ten years old and it really did sing. We'd buy another bottle and let it age even longer, if we can!
Rodaro is located at SR 356 60, 33043 in Cividale del Friuli, Italy. We purchased this bottle locally and enjoyed it in 2026.
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