Tasting selected wines from Alto Adige's Elena Walch estate

Elena Walch is a 5th-generation, family owned vineyard whose roots go back to 1869 (oldest family estate) in a region -- Alto Adige -- dominated by wine Cooperatives (70% of all wine production). But the winery has not always been named Elena Walch. Rather, Elena, who is an architect by training, married into the wine family and, after "bringing new, modern concepts to the traditional establishment," asked her husband to place her name on the bottle to reward her efforts. And he agreed. Today Elena is joined in the business by her daughters Julia and Karoline.

The 60-ha estate is located in the foothills of the Dolomites, sheltered by the Alps to the north and open to the south. Its winemaking philosophy calls for wines that are individual expressions of their terroir and cultivation and whose source vines are maintained sustainably. The quality of the wine, they believe, is a function of the quality of the vineyard and the amount of effort expended in caring for the vines and land.

While the estate is located in the far north -- from a winemaking perspective -- it is rather warm in the spring and summer, with a Mediterranean climate bleeding in from the south. There is a huge day-night temperature differential which makes it easy to ripen grapes but also allows acid retention and for the grapes to develop the full spectrum of fruit aromas

The estate's vineyard holdings are shown in the chart below and include two plots with the Vigna (or cru) designation: Castel Ringberg and Kastelaz. The characteristics of the vineyards follow.

According to Karoline, all of the vineyards are terraced and farming/harvesting is done by hand. The vineyards are farmed sustainably with practices to include (elenawalch.com):

• Production of their own compost at Castel Ringberg
• No synthetic herbicide use
• Milling the grassy areas and seeding various types of legumes to stimulate soil fertility and enhance root residence
• Mulching the vineyards to increase soil-nutrient content
• Monitoring water-use requirement of vines and using drip-irrigation
• Alternating mowing of rows to preserve the natural habitat of beneficial insects
• Leaf-pulling to allow better aeration and a reduction in disease risk.

Fifty-five percent of the estate's wine production is white wines made from varieties such as Pinot Grigio, Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Bianco, and Chardonnay. Red varieties include Lagrein, Schiava, and Pinot Nero. According to Karoline, they grow a large number of varieties because of the number of different terroirs afforded by the diversity of soils, altitudes, and elevations.

The Wines

I bought the estate's Sauvignon, Rosé, and Pinot Nero from an online distributor and was encouraged to deep digger into the offerings. Swirlery, a local wineshop, took on the task of securing additional wines for me. My thoughts on the wines follow.

2018 Beyond the Clouds -- This wine came highly recommended. The various grape varieties are picked as soon as the Chardonnay reaches optimum maturity. The grapes are then crushed and co-fermented in new French oak barriques. Some portion of the wine undergoes malolactic fermentation. The wine is aged in barrique for 10 months, with regular stirring of the lees, and then in bottle for 6 months before release on the market.

Green herbs, savory, pungent, sweet fruit, spice, sweet resin, and honeycomb on the nose. Green lime on the palate. Persistence, with spice and a herby savoriness. Weighty, with good acid levels. Hint of green tamarind. Finish could have been longer.

2018 Vigna Castel Ringberg Sauvignon -- Static clarification through must-refrigeration. Part stainless steel, part barrique fermentation with assemblage just prior to bottling. Some time in bottle prior to release.

This was the first of the estate's wines that I tasted. I enjoyed this wine. Intense minerality, ripe honeydew melon, herbs, citurs, beer, green grass, green papaya, and an oily texture on the nose. Intense minerality on the palate. Bright acidity with some stemminess. Green apple. Coating on the palate. Juicy salinity and paprika.

2018 Vigna Kastellaz Gewurtztraminer -- Carefully selected grapes harvested in two passes. Grapes are cold macerated for 6 hours prior to pressing. Juice clarified by refrigeration and natural sedimentation. Fermented with selected yeasts.

Beautiful aromatics. Lychee, minerality, sweet barley, and green herbs. Rich, sweet, and full-bodied on the palate. Intense red pepper finish. I prefer a less-sweet style of Gewurtztraminer.

2018 Chardonnay -- Grapes pressed and must clarified at low temperatures prior to fermentation in stainless steel tanks. Matured on lees for several months.

Sweet white flower, sweet white fruit on the nose. Perfumed, with apple, intense lime and savory herbs apparent. Full, round mouthfeel and a long finish. Robust. I love this Chardonnay.

The 20/26 Rosé was floral on the nose along with scents of sweet raspberries. Weighty on the palate with intense bright red fruit, sour cherry, and licorice. Drying sensation on the palate.

2018 Schiava -- Temperature-controlled fermentation in stainless steel tanks with 6 days skin contact. Maturation in large oak casks.

Floral (violets), sweet red fruit, spice, licorice, and baking spices. Smooth and even from attack to finish. Expansive red fruit. Layers of salinity. Slate and ripe tamarind with a not-unpleasant bitter note. Burnt toffee and bitter cupric finish. Easy drinking. Unstructured.

2018 Elena Walch Merlot -- Fermentation for 10 days in stainless steel tanks. Malolactic fermentation in 80-hl French and Slavonian oak barrels followed by maturation in large oak barrels.

Dark fruit, chocolate, baking spices, richness, green herbs and red pepper on the nose. Lean, precise, bright with smooth, palate-coating tannins. Cocoa, spice, and red pepper. Pleasant drinking. Medium finish. Could have been more structured. Soft ending.

Ludwig 2017 Pinot Nero -- Maceration at low temperature for 48 hours followed by fermentation in large Slovenian oak vats and stainless steel tanks. Malolactic fermentation followed by 16 months aging in French oak barrels.

Charcoal, toasted barrel, ripe strawberry, tobacco, earth, baking spices, and burnt rubber on the nose. Tar, full-flavored, black pepper, faded cranberry, and a slatey character. Bright acidity. Flattened out. Bitter finish.

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The eight wines tasted herein represent a subset of the Elena Walch wines but I much prefer the whites to the reds. And the whites that I liked best were the varietal Sauvignon and Chardonnay. I am a Chardonnay lover (yeah, like an emergency worker, I run to the grape while others are running away) and love my Chardonnays unimpeded by the presence of other varietals. 

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Guild of Sommeliers Alto Adige Master Class: The white wines

On Thursday, May 16th, Master Sommelier Geoff Kruth led a Guild of Sommeliers Master Class on wines from the Alto Adige (Südtirol) region. I described the wine region component of the Master Class in a prior post. The tasting component was divided into white and red flights of five wines each. I cover the white-wine tasting herein.

The tasting was held at Khong River House in Miami Beach and was open to Guild members who had registered to attend the event. I am very familiar with the Miami Beach area but was unfamiliar with the establishment where the event was being held. The tasting was scheduled to begin at 11:00 am and I arrived at around 10:45 am. The restaurant is located at the corner of Meridian Avenue and 16th Lane North and when I checked in at the Hostess stand I was directed to a stair at the back of the restaurant which took me to the second floor room in which the tasting was to be held. The low-ceilinged room was furnished with white-tablecloth-clad tables separating inward facing chairs all fronted by a large screen and projection equipment. Each seating position was equipped with glasses, spittoons, and sundry event documents. The wines to be tasted were resident on a bar to the right side of the room as you entered. As an early arrival, I was invited to take a seat wherever I desired.

Geoff Kruth was joined in this endeavor by Andrew McNamara MS, the freshly minted Director of Fine Wine, Premier Beverage and Augustan Wine Imports.

 

The first white tasted was the 2011 Erste + Neue Pinot Grigio. Ernst + Neue is the wine cooperative resulting from the 1986 merger of Erste (first) wine cooperative -- founded in 1900 -- and Neue (new) wine cooperative -- founded in 1925. The wine is from the Oltradige region and the appellation is Alto Adige DOC. The grapes for the wine were grown in limestone-endowed moraine deposits on Pergola-trained vines. Yield was 85 hl/ha. The wine was fermented and matured in stainless steel tanks and was kept in close contact with the fine lees for an extended period.

Notes: This wine had a lemon rind character on the nose and tart fruit, waxiness, and a "kiss of lees" on the palate. It was light and delicious with more apparent acidity and less grey color than is characteristic for Pinot Grigio. The finish was thin and short. Suggested retail price for this wine is $15.

The second wine tasted was the 2011 Peter Zemmer Pinot Bianco. Peter Zemmer was established in 1928 in Cortina s.s.d.v in Alto Adige and has been making wine from grapes sourced from the best vineyards on the valley floor and steep slopes near the estate since then. Vineyard soils are stony, sandy, and chalky and yields -- at 60 hl/ha -- are tightly controlled. Grapes are hand-picked and brought into the cellar where they are pressed and then clarified through natural settling of the sediments. Alcoholic fermentation is conducted in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks using pure yeast strains. The wine is subjected to extended lees contact and mature in both large and small barriques.

Notes: This wine had a hint of sweet white flowers and green apples on the nose. Exploded on the palate with vibrant acidity and nectarine notes. Great texture and weight. This wine retails for $16.99.

The next wine up was the 2010 Cantina Terlano Sauvignon Blanc Quarz. Cantina Terlano (located in the municipality of the same name) is a Cooperative (143 growers, 165 ha of vines, 1.2 million bottles/year production) that is noted for long-lived wines holding, as it does, 20,000 bottles with vintages ranging from 1955 to the present. Grapes are sourced from seven different sites and the resulting wines (70% red, 30% white; all DOC) are marketed in three different Quality lines (Selections, Vineyards, Classics) and an annual Rarity (must mature in cellar for 10 years prior to release). Quarz is grown in Terlano at altitudes ranging between 250 and 500 meters on slopes with SSE exposures and gradients of between 5 and 35%. Yields are 42 hl/ha. The grapes are manually harvested and those selected are subjected to whole cluster fermentation. After naturally settling, the juice is fermented slowly in temperature controlled containers and are aged on the lees for 9 months (50% stainless steel tanks, 50% large wooden barrels). Blending occurs 3 months prior to bottling.

Notes: The wine was intensely aromatic with citrus, green papaya, papaya skin, sweet basil, and a rusticity on the nose. Weighty on the palate with vibrant fruit and mineral notes. A long, gritty finish. An excellent wine. Retails for $60.

The 2011 Abbazia di Novacella Kerner Praepositus is produced by an Augustinian Order of monks whose Abbey was founded in 1142 and whose reigning Abbot has responsibility for all aspects of life on the property. The Abbey is located in Alto Adige's Isarco Valley and is Italy's northernmost winery. The Abbey has three major wine production areas: one in the surrounding valley and the remaining two in southern Alto Adige. The soil around the Abbey is granitic schist. Wines are produced as either Classic or Premium (Praepositus). The Kerner (a cross of Schiava and Riesling) is produced from grapes grown at elevations of 600 meters in the municipalities of Bressanone and Varna on SSW exposures and 25 - 40% gradients. The vines are Guyot-trained with planting densities of 6000 vines/ha and yields of 50 hl/ha. The wines were fermented in stainless steel containers using natural yeasts and spend 3 months in bottle prior to release.

Notes: Citrus, apricot, and peach with some oiliness on the nose. Andrew id'd some Gruner and Riesling elements. Sweet citrus on the palate. Weighty with a long finish. Retails for $30.

The final white wine tasted was a 2011 Tenuta Klaus Lentsch Gewürztraminer Fuchslan. The Hemberg Farm, with a pedigree that stretches back to its first mention in a 12th-century document, is located at the beginning of Alto Adige's Isarco Valley. This 27-ha farm was purchased by Klaus Lentz and he has dedicated the 3 ha of plantable land to single-vineyard offerings: Eichberg for Veltliner; Fuchstan for Gewürztraminer; and Bachgart for Pinot Noir.  Vineyard soils are clay-gravel at elevations ranging between 400 and 600 meters. Vines are trained both Pergola and Guyot. After harvesting, the wines are cold-macerated and then gently pressed and fermented. The wine is racked off the lees after two weeks and placed in steel barrels for maturation on the fine lies. Bottling occurs in June of the year following harvest.

Notes: Complex aromatics. Rose and lychee, floral palette. On the palate, fruit complex, weightiness, elevated alcohol, and phenolic bitterness. Fermented completely dry. The MSs felt that the complexity of fruit would work well with strong cheeses and complex dishes. This wine retails for $30.

I will cover the red wines in a future post.


©Wine -- Mise en abyme

The Alto Adige (Südtirol) wine region

Fresh from a trip to Alto Adige, Master Sommelier Geoff Kruth led a Guild of Sommeliers tasting of the region's wines held at Khong (Miami Beach, FL) on Thursday, May 16th. I will report on the tasting in a future post but will first seek to establish the bona fides of the region.

Alto Adige (Upper Adige) is one of two provinces (the other being Trentino) which constitute the autonomous Trentino-Alto Adige region in north Italy. Trentino is the southern portion of the region and, centered around the city of Trento, is classically Italian. Alto Adige, centered around the city of Bolzano, is bordered to the north and east by Austria, to the west by Switzerland, to the southeast by Veneto, to the south by Trentino, and to the southwest by Lombardy. Alto Adige was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire prior to World War I and was known at that time as South Tyrol (Südtirol). At the end of the war Italy came into possession of Südtirol and changed the name to Alto Adige as a part of the integration process. Its Germanic roots are reflected in the fact that 70% of the population speak German today.

According to altoadigewines.com, Alto Adige has a mild Alpine-continental climate aided by the alps protecting the region from cold north winds and openness to Mediterranean influences in the south. The region experiences 300 days of sunshine per year -- a total of 1929 hours -- and average growing season temperatures of 18℃ can spike to 29℃ (84℉) in July. High average daytime temperatures in the summer make for significant diurnal temperature differentials. Bolzano.climatemps.com pegs the annual precipitation at 661 mm (26 in.) while altoadigewines.com stipulates that number at 811 mm (32 in.). The wettest month of the year is August with 90 mm (2.5 in.) of rain, snow, hail, and sleet falling on the region over a total of 9 days (bolzano.climatemps.com).

There is significant soil diversity in Alto Adige with quartz, mica, limestone, dolomite, sandy marl, volcanic porphyry, and weathered ancient rock resident in close proximity. A part of the vineyard area is located on the valley floor on soils comprised of "rock debris and scree cones." These soils are deep and far from groundwater but the texture allows grapevines to dive deep in search of water. The remaining vineyard areas are on slopes and terraces where moraine deposits are dominant. These soils are difficult for roots to penetrate and have low water permeability. The stony soils in the southern portion of the region originate from the Dolomite Mountains and, as a result, have a high mineral content. Due to the mineral content, and a high degree of water permeability, these soils are especially well-suited for grape growing.

Alto Adige is characterized by mountains and valleys and the key vineyard zones follow the north-south path of the Adige River and the northeast-to-southwest path of the Isarco River prior to its disgorgement into the Adige at Bolzano. As shown in the figure below, the Alto Adige wine region is further subdivided into seven distinct sub-regions. The characteristics of the sub-regions are detailed in the immediately following table.

Alto Adige wine region (Source: Guildsomm handout)

Some observations regarding the Alto Adige sub-regions:

• The largest sub-regions, in terms of vineyard area, are to the south with Bassa Atesina and Oltradige together representing 69% of the total.
• Val Venosta is the smallest of the regions with 1% of the vineyard area
• The greatest elevation range is in Basse Atesina with the lowest vineyards at 200 meters and the highest at 1000
• Limestone and porphyry soils dominate
• White wines dominate in every sub-region with the exception of Bolzano and Merano
• The Schiava variety is important in every region with the exception of Isarco Valley.

The Alto Adige climate suits white wine production and a number of aromatic (Sylvaner, Grüner Veltliner, Gewürtztraminer, Müller-Thurgau) and international (Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, Sauvignon Blanc) whites are produced here but red wine production has been historically important in the region. As shown in the tables below, 11 white and six red varieties are important in the region. The major white varieties have comparable representation in terms of vineyard area but, surprisingly, Schiava (a red) has twice the area devoted to its cultivation as the nearest white variety (Pinot Grigio).

Both the white and red wines produced in Alto Adige are a combination of blends and single varieties. White blends are made from Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, or Pinto Grigio with Sauvignon Blanc or Gewürtztraminer rounding out the blend. Red wines with geographic designations have historically been traditional blends but, more recently, Bordeaux style blends made with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot have been all the rage. In addition to the red and white wines, Alto Adige produces small quantities of sparkling and dessert wines. The sparkling wine is made using the methodé champenoise and utilizing Pinot Bianco, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay grapes. The dessert wine is traditionally made from Moscato Rosa. Over 70% of the region's wines are produced by cooperatives.

Alto Adige gained its DOC designation in 1975 and today fully 98% of the region's vineyards are classed DOC. The DOC classification of Alto Adige wines are shown in the table below.

In the next post I will turn to the tasting of the Alto Adige wines.


©Wine -- Mise en abyme