Bardolino Turns 100, and the Funniest Part Is Whose Name It Used to Wear

Imagine sipping a glass of French Beaujolais in a Swiss hotel around 1900, feeling very continental about it, when the wine in your hand actually came from the shores of Lake Garda. That’s the story the Bardolino centenary brings back, and it’s a better one than most anniversary press releases manage.

In October 2026, the Bardolino consortium celebrated 100 years since its first protection body was founded. Not 100 years of winemaking, since people were making wine around Lake Garda long before that. This is the birthday of a decision: the name Bardolino was worth protecting. And once you see what happened before that decision, it’s easy to understand why.

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Quick Facts

• The Bardolino centenary marks the founding in 1926 of the Consorzio di difesa del vino tipico Bardolino, the first body set up to protect the wine
• Bardolino became a DOC on 28 May 1968, and today’s consortium dates from 1969
• Writers around 1900 recorded Swiss hotels serving Bardolino as French Beaujolais
• The centenary was celebrated from 9 to 11 October 2026, including a free public weekend called the Bardolino Pop Garden
• The consortium has 817 members, about 2,400 hectares of vines and roughly 1,000 of those hectares planted for Chiaretto
• Exports account for about 60% of the consortium’s turnover

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The Bardolino Centenary Is Really About a Name

It’s easy to read “100 years” and assume somebody planted the first vine in 1926. Nobody did. The 1926 date belongs to the people who looked at a wine that already had a reputation and decided it needed a legal fence around it.

That fence matters more than it sounds. A wine name isn’t decoration. It tells you where the bottle comes from, what to expect and whose reputation is on the line. If anybody can borrow the name, the growers who actually earned it end up competing with imitations of their own wine. The Bardolino centenary is a chance to see how early some Italian producers understood that, long before the DOC system filled our shelves with little seals.

Sold as French, Then Copied

Here’s the “oh really”, and it’s documented. In 1900, the writer Giovanni Battista Perez noted in his book on the wines of the Verona province that local wines, properly made and aged in glass, could pass for Beaujolais, and that the Swiss sold them in their hotels as French. In 1904, Luigi Sormani Moretti made the same point, saying Swiss hotels served Bardolino and Garda wines under the name Beaujolais. The consortium quotes both on its website. I’d love to know whether the guests ever found out, and what they said when they did. Two writers noting it doesn’t prove every Swiss hotel was at it, but it tells you the trick was common enough to record.

Then the story flips. Bardolino got so popular that other wines started borrowing its name instead. The journalist Zeffiro Bocci wrote that during the 1950s and 1960s it became the most plagiarised wine in Italy, which he called the bitter side of its fame. That’s his verdict rather than a statistic, but it tells you how famous the name had become. One day you’re pretending to be French, and a few decades later everyone wants to pretend to be you.

The 1926 consortium came first, and the DOC in 1968 gave the name proper legal teeth. In that sense, the centenary celebrates a decision that kept being proved right.

There’s a lovely last twist, too. In the late 1980s, Bardolino started making a novello modelled on Beaujolais nouveau, so the wine once passed off as Beaujolais eventually made a Beaujolais-style bottle of its own. Wine has a good sense of humour.

What Actually Happened in 1926, 1968 and 1969

Dates get tangled in anniversary stories, so here they are in one place:

Year	What happened
1900 and 1904	Perez and Sormani Moretti record Swiss hotels passing local wines off as Beaujolais
1926	The Consorzio di difesa del vino tipico Bardolino is founded, the first protection body for the wine
1950s and 1960s	Bocci’s decade of the “most plagiarised wine in Italy”
28 May 1968	Bardolino receives DOC status
1969	The present-day consortium is established
2026	The consortium marks its first 100 years

So the October celebration is about the 1926 organisation, not the birth of Bardolino itself and not the DOC. That distinction is worth keeping straight if you plan to share this on social media, because the “100 years of Bardolino wine” version is the one that will get corrected in the comments.

What Is Bardolino, Anyway?

If you picture a heavy Italian red that demands a steak and a serious face, relax. Bardolino is a light, fresh red from the eastern shores of Lake Garda, made mainly from Corvina with Rondinella and Molinara. A typical glass gives you red cherry, raspberry, a touch of spice and lively acidity, the kind of wine that sits happily beside dinner without taking it over.

That’s also why the old Beaujolais comparison makes some sense. Both are known for approachable, fruity reds, although Beaujolais is made from Gamay and Bardolino has its own grapes, landscape and rules. The trouble was never that someone spotted a resemblance. The trouble was when one was passed off as the other.

A Birthday Party With a DJ

The consortium skipped the starchy dinner you might expect from a century-old institution. After a press day on Friday 9 October, where a centenary artwork by the pop artist Marco Lodola was unveiled, the free Bardolino Pop Garden opened to the public on 10 and 11 October in the park of Villa Carrara Bottagisio, with tastings, food, glowing artworks, DJ sets and live music.

It was a deliberate choice. President Fabio Dei Micheli described the centenary as one “without formalities, looking to the future more than the past”. That makes sense for a wine whose whole charm is being easy to enjoy.

The Numbers, and the Honest Bit

The centenary also put some figures on the table:

Bardolino today	Figure
Members	817, including more than 600 winegrowers
Vineyards	About 2,400 hectares, around 1,000 for Chiaretto
Production (2026 vintage)	Roughly 18 to 20 million bottles, split almost evenly between Bardolino and Chiaretto
Exports	About 60% of turnover
Main export markets	Germany, the Netherlands, France, the UK, Scandinavia, the US, Canada and Japan

(The production figure varies by report, which is why it’s a range.)

Here’s what I like most. Dei Micheli didn’t spend the centenary congratulating himself. He told reporters that at times he has the impression they are living off the good results of the past (my translation). He also pointed out that harvest, which once ran well into October, now rarely goes past September. A wine region that admits it can’t coast is more interesting to me than one that hands out its own trophies. Meanwhile, the consortium points to the millions of tourists around Lake Garda as its biggest opportunity, with ideas like shorter tastings and a glass in the vineyard.

Bardolino Doesn’t Need Another Identity

Bardolino shares some grapes with its neighbour Valpolicella, but the two went in different directions. Valpolicella is famous for Amarone, the rich, concentrated red made from partly dried grapes. Bardolino’s strength is the opposite: fresh, light and food-friendly. The legendary Italian wine writer Luigi Veronelli called it simpatico, which is about the nicest thing you can say about a wine you’d want to share. That isn’t a weakness, it’s the whole point.

It also has more going on than its easy-drinking image suggests. The Classico zone on the southeastern shore of the lake covers Bardolino, Affi, Cavaion, Costermano, Garda and Lazise, and makes about 45% of the production, according to Wikipedia. Light isn’t the same as lesser. Not every bottle needs to be an occasion, and a red that respects your dinner instead of fighting it is a good thing. If you’re building a shortlist of easy bottles, my Best Italian Wines Under €20 list is a good place to keep going.

What to Drink to Celebrate

Start with a good Bardolino DOC or Bardolino Classico DOC. Look for red fruit, lively acidity and a lighter body. If you prefer rosé, try Chiaretto di Bardolino.

Bottle	Style	Try it with
Bardolino DOC	Light, fresh red with cherry and gentle spice	Pizza, tomato pasta, cured meats
Bardolino Classico DOC	From the historic zone on Lake Garda’s southeastern shore	Roast chicken, lighter dishes
Chiaretto di Bardolino	Fresh, pale pink rosé	Summer lunches, fish, antipasti

You can serve a young Bardolino slightly cool. No ritual needed, and you certainly don’t need to pretend it’s French. For more on matching, see my Perfect Italian Wine & Food Pairings Guide.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Bardolino celebrating 100 years in 2026? The centenary marks the founding of the Consorzio di difesa del vino tipico Bardolino in 1926. The wine itself is much older.

Was Bardolino really sold as Beaujolais? Writers in 1900 (Giovanni Battista Perez) and 1904 (Luigi Sormani Moretti) recorded Swiss hotels passing local wines off as Beaujolais. They are reports of a practice, not proof that every hotel did it.

When did Bardolino become a DOC? On 28 May 1968. The present-day consortium was established in 1969.

What grapes are used in Bardolino? Mainly Corvina, with Rondinella and Molinara. Other permitted grapes can make up part of the blend.

Is Bardolino the same as Valpolicella? No. Both are Veneto wines that share some grapes, but Bardolino is generally lighter and fresher.

What food goes with Bardolino? Pizza, tomato-based pasta, roast chicken, cured meats and many lighter Italian dishes.

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One Last Thing

What I like most about this anniversary is how unglamorous the origin is. Nobody built a monument in 1926. A group of producers noticed that their wine’s name had become valuable and decided to look after it. A hundred years later, Bardolino isn’t short of a name. It needs more people to choose it.

So here’s my suggestion: next time you’re at a trattoria near the lake, or staring at a wine list with too many heavy reds, order the Bardolino. Have you ever tried one, and did it surprise you? Tell me.

— Kelly 🍷

#Bardolino #ItalianWine #LakeGarda #WineHistory

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Continue Reading

• Bardolino Isn’t the Wine You Remember
• Best Italian Wines Under €20
• Perfect Italian Wine & Food Pairings Guide
• How to Choose Italian Wine in a Supermarket

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Sources

• WineNews: A century of history, with an eye on the future, in the “pop” spirit of Bardolino and Chiaretto
• Italia a Tavola: Il Bardolino compie 100 anni e guarda al futuro (in Italian)
• Gambero Rosso: Un secolo di storia per il Consorzio Bardolino (in Italian)
• Cronache di Gusto: Bardolino, al via le celebrazioni per i 100 anni del Consorzio (in Italian)
• Consorzio Vini Bardolino: Viticultural Roots (quotes Perez, Sormani Moretti and Bocci)
• Virtù Quotidiane: Il centenario del Consorzio Bardolino, il vino “simpatico” di Veronelli (in Italian)
• Wikipedia: Bardolino DOC