This year the tasting of the whites from Alto Adige did not take place at the Bolzano’s Chamber of Commerce as it normally does. The bottles were sent to our offices in Tuscany. The difference is that we did not get to “taste” also the area of production by going to visit a few wine producers, as we usually do after the morning tasting session. Nevertheless the tasting was quite accurate, having sampled nearly 200 wines in 4 days.
Before getting into the details I’d just like to point out a couple of things. More and more estates are turning to alternative closure systems for their bottles. Apart from the synthetic corks (which diffusion doesn’t seem to be on the up), quite a few cellars opted for the Stelvin screw top, even on wines with a certain ageing potential. Also the glass “cork” seems to be finding its own space on the market. These choices make us happy: we only found 5 bottles tainted by TCA, and we are convinced that the alternative closures do not create any problem to the wines. For wines with a long ageing potential, we’d have some issues with the Stelvin and the synthetic corks (not with the glass ones), but for what concerns wines made to be drunk within 2/3 years we are totally in favour of the synthetic closures. The second remark is for the average alcohol content, which seems to be still growing. One of the key points of the success of the Alto Adige’s white wines is their drinkability and their pleasantness, and these two things are not easily achievable with 13.5% of alcohol. I can forgive a Sicilian or an Apulian wine hitting 13.5%, but for wines in which the aromatic profile is all important (Mueller-Thurgau, Sauvignon Blanc and Gewuerztraminer above all) and high alcoholic percentage (especially if not balanced by body and freshness) risk to create a few problems. Of course a warm vintage like 2007 did not really help, but generally speaking I believe that this is not a problem to underestimate. Also the big advances in the cellars are not to be underestimated. Last year we mentioned about the New Zealand-like Sauvignon Blancs, and this year we’ve also found some Mueller-Thurgau with an unusually vegetal and fruity appeal. We are not opposing progress and modernity in the wine cellars, but if progress means producing all white wines in reductive atmosphere we believe this would bring to a standardization of the characters. Let’s now get into the different typologies.
Pinot Grigio: We could write exactly the same things we wrote last year. Nearly all the Pinot Grigios tasted lacked concentration and clear cut aromas. Even when the Pinot Grigios are produced for the domestic market, they seem to maintain this “export” character, and unless the work in the vine is re-thought, we do not see any major improvement on the way.
Mueller Thurgau: As it happened in Trentino, we had some very pleasant surprises from this variety, which seems to be adapting quite well to vinification in reductive atmosphere. Aromas not at all banal, good concentrations and good freshness give us great hopes for the future.
Pinot Bianco: Surely the big disappointment of this vintage, especially because it had been the beacon in previous tastings. Unfortunately, despite maintaining a certain recognizability in terms of aromas, it generally lacked “substance”, that concentration that we were used to find even in entry products. A number of good wines, but none worth 4 star this year.
Sauvignon Blanc: Even though only one wine hits the 4 stars, the situation is different from that of Pinot Biancos. A big credit must be given to the aromatic part, almost invariably neat, powerful and with notes ranging from the classic ones to white fruits and spices. To sniff out a glass of Alto Adige’s Sauvignon 2007 gives great pleasures. On the palate the lack of  “weight” typical of this vintage is there, but there are also freshness, balance and persistence of flavor. The motto could be “A safe wine on which you can bet!”
Chardonnay: The tasted 2007’s do not change our opinion of these wines. They are well made, but that’s pretty about it. We believe that also in Alto Adige (like in Trentino) this variety is not as fashionable as it used to be, and the producers have lost the will of working hard on it, beginning in the vineyard. Nevertheless, for the lovers of this grape variety the 2007 vintage offers some very pleasant examples.
Gewuerztraminer: Even though the residual sugars are still quite high (but less so than in previous vintages) the 2007’s GW appeared to be pleasant and solidly well made. Some of them show a remarkable minerality (almost a savory note) that make them even more pleasant and easy to pair with food. Considering the vintage, we were fearing for the aromas, but these kept remarkably well. Together with the Sauvignon Blanc, this is the best variety of the tasting.
Alto Adige Bianco: These are the wines produced by blending different varieties. Very often (with some exceptions like the Terlano Classico, which has its own history and its own reason of being) these are wines which are not well defined. Some are undeniably good, but still, sometimes we cannot really see the point of certain “mixes”. One of the selling point of the whites from Alto Adige is the fact that the varietals are always recognizable, but these blends (especially when aged in oak) tend to make everything much more difficult.
Other varieties (Riesling, Sylvaner, Kerner and others): We did not have many samples of these varieties, so we can’t really say anything too precise but…Look out for Kerner: you’ll hear a lot about it in the next years!