Alto Adige Wine Summit

A biennial event created to focus the attention of the international press on the Alto Adige region and its wines. And it succeeds in doing so.

This is according to the president of the South Tyrolean Wine Consortium Andreas Kofler: "Our priority within the Wine Summit is to give influential media representatives an idea of the contrasts that distinguish South Tyrol as a wine region, but also to show them how varied, however comparatively small, our wine region is." With this goal in mind, a dense program was prepared from Thursday, September 7 to Sunday, September 10, ranging from tastings of vintages, varietals and novelties at the NOI Techpark Carroponte Hall to dinners at individual winemakers and tours dedicated to specific themes, to the grand final event with Reinhold Messner at Firmian Castle.

The day after the welcome dinner at the beautiful Castel Mareccio in Bolzano, we were put through our paces with tastings of 290 wines from all over South Tyrol, divided by type. Of course, I was not able to taste them all, but I concentrated on the white wines and Pinot Noirs and was able to realize the very high level achieved by South Tyrolean winemaking, to leave us truly satisfied. The only area where there is still refinement to be done in my opinion is in sparkling wines, although some sparkling wines are very appreciable, such as the 2019 Lorenz Martini Riserva Pas Dosé Comitissa, crisp in chalky notes, savory and creamy, or the Brut Athesis 2020 Kettmeir, fragrant on the nose and agile on the palate.

Among the Pinot Bianco the one that impressed me the most was the 2019 Gump Hof Markus Prackwieser Renaissance Reserve, very elegant and vibrant. Among the Chardonnays my palm goes to the Troy 2020 Riserva Cantina Tramin, a wine to which the wood lends complexity, full and fresh on the palate, and among the Sauvignon my gold medal goes to The Wine Collection 2019 Cantina Produttori San Michele Appiano, an explosive nose in its finesse and a full and elegant body. Continuing with the monovarietals, as a Sylvaner I found the Valle Isarco Sylvaner Riserva Sabiona 2020 Cantina Valle Isarco, snappy and tonic, best represented the varietal; among the (few) Grüner Veltliner I preferred the Valle Isarco 2022 Ebner for its expressiveness and balance; as a Gewürztraminer my pick was the Vigna Kastelaz 2021 Elena Walch, an elegant and aristocratic wine. I finish the whites with the Cuvée and crown the Terlano Riserva Nova Domus 2020 Cantina Terlano, but it lacked the Terlaner I Grande Cuvée from the same winery, so it's hard to say whether it would have won anyway.

For Pinot Nero the talk is easier: the Riserva The Wine Collection 2019 Cantina Produttori San Michele Appiano really impressed me with its complexity and elegance.

At the dinner with the producers I was destined for the group paired with the Cantina di Bolzano, which hosted us at the Patscheider Hof farm, a place on high ground with a grandiose view: vineyards, valley, mountains and in the background the Catinaccio group, which at sunset was a sight to be forever etched in the memory.

To add to the gluttony of the evening we also had three guest wineries: Cantina Valle Isarco, Tenuta Köfererhof and Josef Weger. The result was a bubbly evening, with interesting bottles, excellent dishes and then stories, anecdotes and a dive into the South Tyrolean world. As Daniele Galler, of Cantina di Bolzano, commented, quoting a local saying, "You would have drunk with the bucket and eaten with the shovel."

The next morning we engaged in a vineyard tour with Peter Zemmer and Helena Lageder followed by a tasting of wines from the wineries Castelfeder, Tenuta Kollerhof and Weingut Sebastian Praxmarer.

Very interesting is the Pinot Noir that Zemmer planted in the Kofl Vineyard on porphyry matrix soils at over 1000 meters in the Aldino area (future Uga Aldein Eich). This is the Riserva 2021 that matures 12 months in 50% new French barriques, very fragrant, streamlined, agile elegant.

Alois Lageder's Chardonnay Löwengang 2020 should be mentioned, a historic wine, among the first whites to be barrel-aged. Rich with smoky notes and creamy.

The South Tyrol Wine Summit 2023 concluded with a wonderful evening at Castel Firmian in the company of legendary mountaineer Reinhold Messner, who spoke about his relationship with mountains and wine. Definitely worth visiting is the museum dedicated to the mountains built inside the castle.