Zeni Mr. Lake Bardolino 2025

This vibrant, easy-drinking red is Zeni's Mr. Lake Bardolino 2025, a Corvina-Rondinella blend from the morainic hills above Lake Garda that captures everything charming and immediate about the Veneto's signature light red.

Zeni is a fifth-generation family winery with roots stretching back to 1870, when Bartolomeo Zeni began transporting food and wine along the shores of Lake Garda. Today the estate is run by siblings Fausto, Elena, and Federica Zeni, continuing the innovations of their father Gaetano "Nino" Zeni, who built the winery into one of Bardolino's most respected names and opened its celebrated wine museum in 1991. The estate farms its vineyards on the morainic hills east of the lake under Italy's "quality in sustainable agriculture" certification, and Mr. Lake is crafted from the classic Bardolino pairing of Corvina and Rondinella, grapes that thrive in the region's breezy, lake-moderated climate.

True to Bardolino's reputation for freshness, this wine shows a very light garnet color in the glass. The nose is lifted and floral, with fresh tobacco leaf, wild herbs, and rose petal weaving through notes of sour plum, cranberry, and pomegranate. On the palate it's energetic and light-bodied, with tart red berry fruit and savory herbal notes chasing each other through to a crisp, mineral-tinged finish, backed by refreshing acidity and gentle tannins.

Light, lively, and endlessly food-friendly, Mr. Lake is the kind of Bardolino built for a slight chill and easy sipping — a small-format wine with genuine personality.