October 23rd, 2008

Alto Adige Italia                                                    

Loving two different Pinot Grigios (PG), if you’re a guy, is somewhat like being torn between two beautiful women, both different but perfect in every way.  Resolving the conflict is difficult and perhaps can be resolved by choosing one today and another different one tomorrow depending upon mood and food for wine, at least.  My conflict occurs from the PGs coming from two different areas of northern Italy.  The eastern Collio region of Italy produces a crisp, fresh, green scented PG with ripe mouth-filling fruit and high minerality.  The central Alto Adige region produces a delightfully crisp PG with nice minerality and highly intense fruit. Both are delicious when transformed from grape juice to wine by skilled winemakers.   

In an effort to become better educated, I visited wine growers in both areas and sampled their products.   The two areas are separated by the “DOLOMITES” a range of mountains about 110 kilometers wide (73 miles). These massifs are difficult to cross so the most common route is to go around them heading south past Venice and then West via the Po valley. 

In our last installment, we reported upon our visit to Collio and the winemaking family Silvestro and Marko “Primosec” who have contributed to my conflict with their delicious Primosec Collio PG.  Leaving that region of Gorizia behind and its Slovenian/Italian culture, we headed west towards Verona, turning north at the Largo de Garda and then up towards the Sudtirol (southern Tyrol) driving parallel to the Adige river.  This is the major connection between Italy and the Germanic world utilizing the low Brenner Pass into northern Europe.  It is a rock-walled trench widening in places to provide board valleys and views of distant peaks. The climate is continental and is more severe than the Mediterrian/maritime climate of Gorizia, and the altitude ranges far higher than the 400 meters  (1300ft) of Collio.  There are three DOC appellations along this route and are listed on the bottle if the grapes qualify.  The lowest (at sea level up to about 500 feet) is labeled the VENATO, the next Valley of the ADIGE (VALADIGE-up to about 1800 feet) and the upper part (MOST NORTHERN) of the Adige (ALTOADIGE-to 3500 feet).  The ALTOADIGE (AA) is located between Trento and Bolzano and continues on up to Merano.  This part of Italy was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of WW1.   There are two official languages-Austrian (more widely spoken) and Italian, but the Austrian culture is still very much present and preserved. However, the Italian expertise in wine making and the La Dolce Vita mentality is also there and the blend of the two cultures is unique and makes for some outstanding wines.  Houses are constructed in the Alpine Austrian style and restaurants provide both classical Italian and Austrian dishes.  The valley, at about 2500 ft, is deep below the massive mountains-the Dolomiti, which are so steep that the top two thirds are bare rock and reach a summit of about 6000 ft.   These bare mountains provide a great reflection for sunsets and one best viewed from a café sipping an aperitif, observing shear rock slopes changing colors from a non-descript gray-white to a golden pinky glow at sunset.   The high mountains though can limit the vine’s sun time each day and many of the vintners use pergolas to offer more horizontal grape exposure to the sun than more typically arranged vertically on horizontal wires. Present day practice, in the wider portion of the valley, is to go to wires to limit production and thus improve quality.  The high mountains also provide shelter and warmth permitting “long hang time” typically harvesting in mid October in normal years.  2007 was “HOT” and the harvest was completed in September.

My objective was to reach the village of Cortacca (Kurtatsch) in the province of Bolanzo and visit Peter Zimmer, who with his father Helmet, owns the vineyards and winery that produces Kupelwieser….the other apex of my PG triangle. Peter was selected as “Winemaker of the Year” in 2002 by the DOC Committee and continues a tradition started in 1878 by his grandfather Fritz.  Mount Roen at 2113 m  (6550 ft) provides the backdrop behind Cortaccia to the west and the family vineyards run from its base sloping downward to the Adige. Snowy winters, 1800 hours of sunshine, hot summer days and cool nights, adequate water off the slopes, the “Ora” (a hot dry wine blowing up the valley from Lake Garda), and a soil consisting primarily of dolomite and limestone all provide an ideal microclimate for many varietals to flourish here, as they have since Roman times.   Leaving Trento we crossed the Adige at Salorno and joined the Strada Del Vino (Street of Wine) on the west slope and found the Kupelwieser family in the small alpine village of Cortina (Kurting).  They grow both red and white grapes and the DOC recognizes those plus a rose. Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio, Riesling , Sauvignon, Traminer, Langrein, Langrien Rosato, Pinot Nero, Sanata Maddalena are the authorized DOC varietals that Kepelwieser has focused upon.  Helmet has concentrated his efforts on the Langrein, a red indigenous varietal and his version has an impressive concentration of blackberries, spice and minerals with full body and elegance.  I was happy to taste his 2005 Reserve and found it to be all that he promised (available at TW). We toured their state of the art winery complete with temperature controlled stainless steel fermentation tanks where pure strains of yeast are utilized with the “must” controlled at 19C (66F) to produce the wine from a long slow fermentation process. The cellar was full of combinations of large and small oak barrels Helmut and Peter utilize to achieve stunning tastes in their Cabinet, Langrien and other reds.   Peter had sectioned several barrels that permitted viewing the internal surface of one, two and three year old barrels that clearly demonstrated the aging (gradual pluggage of the pores) that occurs. 

 On the whites we started with the Pinot Blanco AA, a fruity fresh wine with scent of apple and a delicious richness.  This is a fun wine and perfect for a pre dinner aperitif.  Then  the 2005 PG was presented and was rich in body and fruit extract with firm acidity.  The rich, lightly spiced, pear, banana, lime hints confirmed what I had experienced back in the states and renewed its favorite status once again.  Peter brought out the 2006 and the richness and freshness of the fruit made for a delightful tasting. It is a perfect pairing with mushrooms, trout, steamed claims, shrimp and mussels and was so good we took two bottles with us for the next days picnic at Passo Tonale.      

Thanking the Zimmers for their hospitality we left Cortina and found an inn in Cortaccia about eight miles north.  The “Garni Pomella” pearched on a steep hillside surrounded by vines at the edge of town was clean and rated at 2 stars for $84/night with breakfast. Cortaccia offered several excellent restaurants and we selected ZUR ROSE (www.baldoarno.com) in a 300 year old building, and tried the gnocci with creps from an extensive menu combining  Italian/French/German offerings. In the area are hiking trails, biking, equestrian trails and mountain climbing plus skiing in season.

 It was great to actually experience meeting the families that produce my two favorite PGs and in, the process, learning more about how and where they had been made. I will continue to drink both and hopefully select the proper one for that special moment.  Salute!

Joe Barsin, 

Certified Sommelier, Certified Specialist of Wine and Wine Associate @ Total Wine and More; Matthews NC

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