IN RECENT YEARS, Alto Adige has become synonymous with high-quality white wine, and Pinot Bianco will always be the calling card of the region. With its impressive longevity, the Vorberg Riserva is an outstanding example of the great potential to be tapped in the pinot bianco grape.
The Terlano cooperative was founded by a handful of farmers who amassed the fruit from their small mountain vineyards. There are now 105 members of Terlano, cultivating a total of 350 acres of land and producing 1 million bottles of wine a year. Seventy percent of the wine is white and is made, in large part, from pinot bianco and sauvignon grapes, both planted across 70 acres of land. The basic ingredients for making top-quality wines in Alto Adige are the meticulous care of the vines, incentive-driven management, technological innovation in the cellar, business-minded politics, and a well-orchestrated image. But do not overlook the Kellermeister, literally, the cellar master. In the cellars of Alto Adige, the Kellermeister is not simply an enologist; he is the link between the member grape growers and the management. He is the face of the winery, “the one who arrives first and leaves last,” said perfectly by Sebastian Stocker, the Kellermeister at Terlano for forty years before passing on the baton to the young, talented Rudi Kofler. Another important name in Alto Adige winemaking worth mentioning here is Giorgio Grai, a well-known enologist and wine blender with an extremely refined palate and unparalleled knowledge of Italian and other European vineyards. Called an “artisan-composer winemaker” by the New York Times, Grai established a winemaking style at Terlano that has spread throughout the region.
So much about Alto Adige can be understood by looking at a map. The region is dominated by a sunny central valley that splits off into ten smaller valleys surrounded by some of the most beautiful mountains in the world. Many of Italy’s top skiers grew up on the slopes of Ortisei, Selva di Val Gardena, and Corvara Alta Badia. Stelvio National Park, with its 990,000 acres of government-protected land, and the granite peaks of the Dolomites add to the beauty of the local landscape. Although it may come as a surprise to some, grapes grow well in the rocky soil and cold climate. The longevity of the Terlano wines, however, is due primarily to the strong presence of porphyry in the soil of the Terlano vineyards. Porphyry is a light, friable rock that allows water to penetrate deep into the soil, causing the vines to root down to reach it. Historically, grape growers have trained their vines using the pergola system, but recently many winemakers have converted to the simpler Guyot system. At Terlano, however, the pergola system is still used and continues to pay off year after year in extraordinary grapes. Terlano is located halfway between Bolzano and Merano. In many ways, it is the heart of the region and is certainly the heart of Alto Adige winemaking: Nearby are roads leading to Appiano, Caldaro, and other top winemaking comuni. Farther away, near the Austrian border, you will find the Isarco Valley, the last frontier of Italian wine and the source of top white wines.
Recent tastings of older vintages of Terlano wines have confirmed the surprising longevity of their white wines. We are talking about wines produced in the 1970s that are perfectly drinkable. In response to a question posted on the winery’s website suggesting that the only factor influencing the life of white wine is acidity, Kellermeister Kofler wrote that there are many elements that must be balanced to have long-lasting whites, including the soil and the grape variety. Long-lived wines come from vineyards “in harmony,” to use his expression, meaning vineyards with low yields and biologically vital soil. Kofler believes that the quality of the Terlano whites is due to the quality of the vines that produce them. The Pinot Bianco Vorberg Riserva is a good example of this balance. The wine has been made exclusively from grapes from this grand cru since 1995, and today production is about 50,000 bottles. The vineyard starts at 1,600 feet above sea level and extends to 3,000 feet: a true mountain. The soil is composed of porphyry, and the yield is about 7,100 pounds per acre. The grapes are vinified at complete maturity and fermented in temperature-controlled large oak barrels. The malolactic fermentation occurs in the barrels, and the wine is left to rest for twelve months on the lees. The rest of the process is a waiting game: Time must play its part. Most often, the resulting wine has a nose of mature apple and pear, chamomile, yeast, and light spices. In the mouth, the wine has good, full body and is at the same time elegant, with crazy sapidity and extremely rich minerality. The incredibly long finish of this wine is likely to leave an even longer-lasting imprint on your palate. This wine speaks to the beauty of the area and emulates the aesthetic appeal of the region.
THERE ARE NAMES that when said aloud evoke feelings of fascination in the listener—or in this case, in wine lovers. One such name is undoubtedly Sanct Valentin. These two magical words are worth more than any sensory description of a wine whose popularity has surpassed even that of the cellar from which it was produced: Cantina Produttori San Michele Appiano.
The path to success was long and tedious and began precisely one century ago, when all the main cooperative Alto Adige wineries were started. San Michele Appiano is a co-op based in the Sanct Michele area of the municipality of Appiano, just a bit south of Bolzano. The co-ops were created to help the small local winemakers who were too poor and unskilled to support both the production and the commercial activity on their own. The fruit of the small vineyards that cling to the steep slopes of the Alto Adige mountains at dizzying heights was brought to the cellar of the cooperative for vinification. Until the middle of the twentieth century, life at San Michele Appiano, like that at the other co-ops, was calm and uneventful. The local wine production made no noteworthy jumps in terms of quality—until the arrival of Kellermeister Hans Terzer.
Acknowledged internationally as a master white wine producer, Terzer cemented this image with his work in the Appiano cellar. By taking advantage of the location and position of the Appiano vineyards, by cultivating indigenous grape varieties with greater care, and by implementing more modern technology, Terzer was able to create a new name for San Michele Appiano. In just a few years, Appiano became the most well-known winery in Alto Adige. Terzer worked exceptionally well with sauvignon, considered one of the lesser-known and least cultivated white grapes in Italy, possibly because of its difference in flavor from the more common Italian whites. And yet for San Michele Appiano, sauvignon worked wonders. Native to Bordeaux, sauvignon produces the best results in its home region, where it is made into wines of immense character, recognizable for their classic olfactory notes of sage or “cat piss,” structure, and longevity. Sauvignon produced in Appiano gained the approval of wine lovers thanks to less “invasive” aromas, extraordinary minerality, freshness, and drinkability. Given the large annual production size and the moderate price, people describe Sanct Michele Appiano Sauvignon as “miracle” wine. While the Sanct Valentin line contains wines made from a variety of grapes, the Sauvignon is the most exceptional. It has almost become a brand, or a symbol of quality, thanks to the hard work of Terzer and the vineyard itself.
In recent years, Alto Adige has affirmed its position as a great wine region of Italy. Today, only some red wines are limited to local consumption and purchased in taverns, where they are often still sold in liter bottles. The white wines are being drunk around the world, rivaling the great whites of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Germany, California, and New Zealand. The 350 members of the Appiano co-op cultivate an average of 2.5 acres of land per head, supplying the cellar with the fruit from 910 acres of vineyard. On the steep slopes of the Adige mountains, pergolas are used to plant vines in the rocky soil. Nowadays, the Guyot training system is being used more and more often—a more modern and quality-oriented approach. Alto Adige was one of the first regions in Italy to map the vineyards, defining individual parcels as crus. San Valentino, along with Schulthaus, Gleif, and Monticolo, are crus where some San Michele Appiano grape growers own property.
Sauvignon Sanct Valentin is produced from grapes grown in the San Valentin cru. Appiano is located at the heart of the classic white wine making zone, on vineyards that are 1,600 feet in altitude. The orientation of this large cru is south to southeast, and, in addition to sauvignon, gewürztraminer, pinot grigio, and pinot bianco are grown here. The key to the success of sauvignon Sanct Valentin is its balance, a characteristic that is likely to surprise first-time drinkers and to impress the connoisseur. Vinified solely in stainless steel, this wine has all the classic notes of Sauvignon, from sage to pepper to tropical fruit. Thanks to the mastery of Hans Terzer, the aromas are held under control, unlike many of the Sauvignons produced elsewhere. The main characteristic of the wine remains its freshness and drinkability, and minerality in later life. (Sanct Valentin has proved to age well.) In the mouth, the wine has a solid structure. It is round and even strong, but Terzer has also been able to maintain a certain “lightness” while also supporting the alcohol content, which is currently at 13.5 percent. The finish is extraordinarily well balanced and remains fixed in your memory.
IN ITALY and in the rest of Europe, winemakers often profess their production methods to be biodynamic or “natural” even if just years before they were treating their vineyards with synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Worse yet, some of these producers once uprooted vineyards and reshaped entire hills and mountains before turning “natural.” By calling their methods “biodynamic,” people have discovered a new way to position themselves in the already crowded wine market, even if their key selling point is a mere marketing ploy. Thankfully, substance generally outlives appearance. That is the case with Peter Pliger and his truly all-natural wines, of which this Riesling is the best example.
Peter Pliger and his wife, Brigitte, have built their winery step by step, following the pace of nature. They believe that if you try to speed up or force natural processes, you understand nothing about good viticulture and, perhaps, nothing about life in general. There are no tricks to the trade. Peter is an active practitioner of biodynamic agriculture. Better, he listens to nature and believes in the wisdom of old farmers, who rely on less-invasive homeopathic treatments to care for their vines. Over time, synthetic products and chemicals were eliminated from the soil of Pliger’s vineyards and were replaced by earthworms and colorful fields of flowers. The grapes—and ultimately the wine—benefited immensely from this change.
In 1990, Peter Pliger decided, after faithful devotion to the Abbazia di Novacella winery, to purchase his own land and vinify his own grapes. He started off producing only 1,500 bottles, but the results were promising. Beginning in 1991, he began restoring his magnificent maso—fortified farmhouses from the Middle Ages—and built a small but modern cellar. Peter and Brigitte’s house was built in the eleventh century and is known as Kuenhof. Until two hundred years ago, the property was owned by the bishop of Bressanone and has been in the Pliger family for five generations. The couple now owns around 15 acres of vineyard, from which they produce 25,000 bottles of wine a year. The yields are low because biodynamic farming does not permit pushing the plant to extremes. But this yield is in keeping with the Pliger philosophy. They would never release a bottle that they didn’t believe in 100 percent. Their decision to use less invasive and more sustainable techniques was not in the least a marketing ploy.
The Pliger vineyards are truly beautiful, spread across the sunny slopes facing the Isarco Valley a few miles south of Bressanone, also known as Alto Adige Brixen. The grapes are planted between 1,800 and 2,300 feet above sea level. The view from the vineyards is fantastic, and even if this doesn’t improve the quality of the grapes, it certainly improves the quality of the lives of the people who work there. Here you can feel that nature, and the earth is alive. The 15 acres of vineyard are as beautiful as they are difficult to work, owing to the impervious location and the steepness of the slopes. A term often used to describe the viticulture at Kuenhof is “heroic.” The soil is composed of clayey sand with a large amount of shale. The vineyards are almost all supported by dry rock walls. The Isarco Valley together with the Venosta Valley represent an area of great growth in terms of quality winemaking. Here, white wine grapes like riesling, sylvaner, and kerner are king, because of the cold climate.
After harvest, and once the work in the vineyard is completed, the grapes are quickly transferred into the cellar housed inside the Pliger’s farmhouse. The use of technology is limited here as well: The wines do not undergo malolactic fermentation, but rather a simple clarification process before they are ready to be bottled. Peter doesn’t believe in physically concentrating the must. He has the maximum respect for the climatic variances from harvest to harvest and does not want to shape the end result in any way. Next to the stainless steel tanks, Peter keeps large acacia wood barrels, used to mature the wine. The winery produces a total of four wines. The wine that best represents the essence of Kuenhof is without a doubt Riesling Kaiton. Depending on the vintage, the personality of the wine may change slightly. Some elements, however, have remained constant over time: There is no doubt that this is an elegant and austere product. Initially, the wine appears edgy, then dynamic, and finally it settles in. Light, yet complex, it has a rich aromatic and flavor profile, yet it is at the same time easy to drink, with a long, sapid finish. This is an uncomplicated wine, created from the great imported varietal riesling, that when combined with the noble alpine terroir is destined to create a world-class white wine.
ABBAZIA DI NOVACELLA is more than just a winery. The property has special significance for the Alto Adige region, and, moreover, it has spiritual and economic significance for all of northern Italy. It’s one of the most prestigious and historic religious institutions in all of continental Europe. Situated in one of the most extreme terroirs, Abbazia di Novacella produces one of the world’s most beautiful wines: the Kerner.
The first written testimonies of the presence of this abbey date back to A.D. 1142. The abbey was founded by Bishop Hartmann of Bressanone, and since then it has been the seat of an order of Augustinian monks. The most important tasks of the monks were, and still are, to give spiritual guidance, educate children and adults, and conduct scientific studies in various fields, including viticulture. Actually, winemaking at Novacella dates back to the birth of the abbey itself. The monks of the Abbazia di Novacella also left a significant impact on the region. They planted fruit trees, as well as grapes, which contributed to both the local economy and that of the abbey. Today, the Abbazia di Novacella owns over 173 acres of vineyards and produces an average of 600,000 bottles per year. The wine is no longer made exclusively for the consumption of the monks, but is a way for them to finance important philanthropic activities.
Bressanone is a small town in Alto Adige, rich in history and charm. The center of the town is surrounded by medieval walls, from which you can see the tall alpine peaks in the near distance. At first sight, this area appears unsuitable for making wine; however, a number of cold-weather indigenous and international varieties of grapes grow here. Kerner is one such grape. Created in 1929 in the laboratory of a then young German grape breeder, August Herold, kerner is the result of a cross between schiava grossa and riesling. After much work and experimentation based in Lauffen, Germany, Herold finally presented kerner to the scientific world in 1969. The grape was named after Justinus Kerner, a famous German poet who wrote extensively about wine. In Germany, kerner is the eighth most planted grape and covers about 9,880 acres of land. For the moment, in Italy, kerner is found exclusively in Alto Adige, where the cold climate is ideal for this variety. The vineyards at Abbazia di Novacella benefit from dramatic differences in day- and nighttime temperatures, which brings out the aromatic characteristics of this grape. The poor, pebbly soil also contributes to the limited productivity of the plants, and therefore green harvesting is not as essential as with other types of grapes.
Every important winery in Alto Adige is overseen by a resident enologist or Kellermeister, and at the Abbazia di Novacella, that person is Celestino Lucin. Beginning in 1994, the wines produced at the abbey have been named, in chronological order, after the abbots of the abbey. The first wine in this new line was called Praepositus (“prior”), in honor of the founder of the abbey, “Beatus Hartmannus,” Bishop Hartmann of Bressanone. In 1995, a wine was named after Henricus Primus, the first abbot of Novacella. The monk who is currently in charge of the abbey will have to wait for the 2049 vintage before a wine is named after him. The Kerner is vinified exclusively in stainless steel so that aromas from the wood do not mix with the intrinsic perfumes and flavors of the grape. The wine is rich in aromas of tropical fruit, green tea, and fennel, as well as peach and yellow melon. In the mouth, the wine is sapid, with good structure and alcohol, and has a fruity and aromatic finish. This wine is very food-friendly and appeals to our sensibilities and palates.
AMONG THE profligate apple orchards of the Alto Adige, the glorious vines of Falkenstein are entwined. But rather than the expected local grape varieties, this winery has made its name, and made history, with Germany’s fabled riesling.
Franz Pratzner was never supposed to be more than an apple farmer, like his countrymen in the Val Venosta and their parents before them. If he had adhered to the traditions of the region, he might well have lived out his years putting on his lederhosen each morning to chase the crows from his orchards. But Franz is a dreamer, and in 1995, at the young age of thirty-four, he looked around at his land, optimally insulated by the surrounding mountains, and decided to plant grapes among the trees. The soil was perfect, and so was the climate, he reasoned. But once again he bucked tradition, and rather than planting vines of schiava, a varietal popular locally for beefing up the color and structure of lifeless wine, he followed his whimsy and palate to plant riesling vines.
Riesling, which comes from the magnificent Rhine Valley in Germany and finds itself most at home in Austria or the French region of Alsace, has the capacity to develop a fascinating complexity in aroma and taste. When young, it offers scents ranging from lemongrass to citrus fruits, while when aged, it develops the singular fragrance of petroleum. It is a versatile varietal and can result in vastly different wines, from dry whites to passito, ranging from just a little residual sugar to late-harvest bottlings. In Alto Adige, however, Riesling has a unique set of characteristics totally independent of its counterpart in Germany, where the latitude cuts summers short and hampers temperatures from reaching the Mediterranean highs of neighboring Italy. The opulent warmer-climate Rieslings of Alto Adige don’t need added sugar to increase their alcohol content.
In fact, the land stretching from Alto Adige’s capital, Bolzano, westward to Merano and Silandro has characteristics of both the mountains and the Mediterranean, as evidenced by the cypresses and larches growing side by side. Both trees thrive in the wind currents that travel from the north to the south. The Val Venosta, which begins at Merano and runs east–west, terminates at glaciers in the Alps. The area is predominantly given over to apple cultivation on Mount Mezzodi. In recent years, however, between the villages of Pracines and Silandro, and especially with the creation of the Val Venosta DOC, grapevines are returning to areas that, while once widely planted, have long been neglected. Today, nearly three hundred growers cultivate an area less than 170 acres—a ridiculous figure in relation to other Italian winemaking regions. The valley has an excellent climate for viticulture: There is less precipitation here than in any other region in Italy. In the autumn, the valley is visited by a curious phenomenon: hot, dry winds that dry the grapes while allowing them to mature perfectly, making this region ideal for late-harvest wine. The pronounced difference between daytime highs and nighttime lows further facilitates the growth of high-quality grapes. Finally, the poor, inherently arid, and rocky soil here results in strong mineral intake. And whereas the riesling vineyards of Germany—especially in the Mosel—are planted on gravity-defying slopes, Italians have found that the varietal does just as well on a slightly gentler incline.
It is on just such an incline that Franz Pratzner has built his modern winery, a minimalist structure clinging to the side of a mountain at 2,300 feet above sea level. Somehow, his little nest of stone and cement, visible even from the valley floor below, does not disrupt the harmony of the landscape crisscrossed with grape vines and orchard rows. And Franz—a calm, reserved, almost phlegmatic man with a deep love of the region he calls home—would have it no other way. The winery is overseen solely by Franz. He and his wife, Bernadette, who helps him in the vineyard to allow him more time in the cellar, make Riesling that sings of the land on which it is raised. He does not attempt to impose characteristics on his wines or to force a preconceived typology; instead, he applies the criteria of natural winemaking. After a short maceration, the wine ferments with carefully selected yeasts in wooden barrels—acacia for whites and oak for Pinot Noir. None of the wines undergoes malolactic fermentation, and bâtonnage is employed until March.
As a result, the Val Venosta Riesling is a powerful wine, extracted and high in alcohol, yet subtly expressive of its mountainous pedigree. Indeed, the wine is reactive and nervous, with intense acidity, yet it is balanced beautifully by a full body. Similarly remarkable is the longevity of this wine: Despite having been in production for a scant fifteen years, the Falkenstein Riesling—like a fine Italian woman—has demonstrated its ability to mature without showing its age. While young, the wine offers nuances of smoke and peach, then in time it develops notes of flint and petroleum. Its mouthfeel is juicy and harmonious, with a very long, clear finish. Franz’s respect for the Val Venosta has been returned to him in spades as he has risen through the ranks to reach critical acclaim in a relatively short time.