“Of any region in Italy, Alto Adige receives the highest number of awards per liter of wine produced,” declared Gino Catalano, representing the Kettmeir winery at a recent tasting in Chicago. The 12 wines we sampled gave us no reason to doubt his claim.
Alto Adige, also known as Südtirol, was a part of Austria until the end of World War I, and the residents speak German as much as Italian to this day. For decades, Alto Adige produced innocuous white wines, but because wineries now exploit harder-to-reach hillside vineyards at higher altitudes, Alto Adige currently produces wines (both white and red) rich with flavor and character.
Pinot Grigio, for example, too often tastes wan and insipid, but in Alto Adige, the grape produces interesting – sometimes even arresting – wines which work beautifully with food. Kettmeir’s 2014 Pinot Grigio tasted surprisingly rich and spicy, and the Viticoltori Alto Adige’s 2014 San Pietro Pinot Grigio had cheerful fruit and clear focus. Most memorable was the San Pietro Pinot Grigio “Kristall,” made from fruit grown at up to 2,000 feet above sea level. It felt very refined, with ripe fruit, white-pepper spice and notable minerality.
Viticoltori Alto Adige is a winegrowing cooperative, which ordinarily wouldn’t inspire much confidence. However, “There’s a big difference between co-ops in Alto Adige and co-ops [elsewhere] in Italy,” Viticoltori Alto Adige’s CEO Kurt Putzer explained. “In [the rest of] Italy, you pick which grapes you keep and which go to the co-op, and you don’t give them the best, of course. In Alto Adige, when you’re part of a co-op, 100 percent of your grapes go to the co-op.” And a competitive spirit among grape-growers ensures that quality is uniformly high.
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Viticoltori Alto Adige also bottles wines under a “Südtirol” label developed exclusively for export. Its goal, Putzer informed us, is to “preserve as much of the fresh grape in the wine as possible,” in contrast to the “fruit bombs of Oregon and California.” The label certainly succeeded in that effort with its 2014 Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir), which exhibited clear and clean cherry fruit undergirded by a note of mocha. Taut acids and undertones of earth kept it perfectly balanced.
Pinot Noir thrives in Alto Adige, further evidenced by Cantina Terlano’s 2012 Montigl Riserva Pinot Nero. It smelled earthy and fruity, with a pleasing hint of vanilla. The wine was deep but not heavy, with rich fruit, powerful spice and notes of wood and smoke. Even though he’s ostensibly a competitor, Putzer had great respect for Cantina Terlano’s wines. “They’re one of the best co-ops in Alto Adige, and for me they make some of the best white wines in the world.”
Which winery makes the “best” white wines is obviously up for debate, but Terlano’s are unquestionably impressive. Casey Squire, division manager of Banville Wine Merchants, explained that “The hallmark of Terlano wines is their ageability.” Locals wait three to five years before drinking them, whereas most whites are intended to be consumed upon release. “I visited Terlano’s cellars,” Squire continued, “and tasted a wine from their library – a 1955 Pinot Bianco [Pinot Blanc]. It had candied fruit, dried apricot and a hazelnut component, but it still had acidity and freshness.” An impressive achievement for any white wine.
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The most recent Terlano vintages already display considerable character. The 2014 Terlaner Classico, the 130th vintage of this blend of Pinot Bianco, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, had zesty lemony acids and ample fruit, but it felt quite taut, a quality emphasized by its intriguingly bitter and spicy finish. Nor did the 2014 Terlaner Winkl Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc disappoint, with its wet green hay aroma, tart grapefruity acids, grassy midsection and mineral finish. But most exciting was the elegant 2012 Terlaner Vorberg Pinot Bianco. It had a rich, full mouthfeel and gorgeously lush fruit, but it kept itself focused and perfectly balanced with tight limey acids and warm spice.
Bottlings from Alto Adige appear more often on menus and in wine shops nowadays, but it’s even better to go right to the source. The Harper-recommended Vigilius Mountain Resort and Hotel Terme Merano each stand less than 20 minutes away from the town of Terlano, for example. Some wine tasting in the Adige Valley would make for a delightful change of pace in between spa treatments and excursions into the Dolomites.
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