Alto Adige

Nestled into the early foothills of the Alps, lies Italy’s most northerly wine region, with the Dolomites as dramatic backdrop.  The region is culturally (and historically) more Germanic than Italian, and signage is bi-lingual, which seems to satisfy the three official languages of this autonomous region, though Südtirol makes for a less alliterative headline. Its architecture, topography, cuisine and punctual habit lay claim to a leading Teutonic disposition.

The region’s wines also reflect the cooler, northern, more aromatic paradigm, being some 1,000 miles distant from Italy’s toes tripping through the warmly lush Mediterranean Sea.

Micro-scale

Reflective of the cooler location, and necessary site-selection that it requires, volumes of wine are not large, indeed microscopy is the order of the game in Alto Adige/Südtirol.  The region produces just 0.7% of Italy’s total wine output, less than 3.5 million cases in total (smaller volumes than several single wine brands such as Australia’s Yellow Tail or Jacob’s Creek). Yet there are no fewer than eight DOCs, named for the various hills and valleys in the Y-shaped incision that is the pre-Alpine Alto Adige, which follows the Isarco river as it flows into the Adige on its way south, then east to the Adriatic. 

The Y of Alto Adige

These eight DOCs cover just 5,100 hectares (ha). This makes the average vineyard holding just 0.65 ha, so no-one is making much of anything. Added into the micro-scale are the more than 20 different grape varieties grown in the region. Small wonder the 15 co-operatives are so important here, accounting for 70% of the harvest. What makes this region different is that several of the co-ops are highly regarded for the quality of wine they produce. Outside of the co-ops nearly 150 producers account for the remainder, making and marketing their own wines.  

Wines with altitude

Altitude has a significant influence here. Vineyards range from 200m to 1,000 metres above sea level. Only 15% of the region’s land surface area is below 1,000 metres. Above this lie meadows and pastures for livestock before seriously mountainous territory intervenes. Cooling Alpine winds are clearly an influence, as is warming Mediterranean influence. Bozen/Bolzano is often the warmest city in Italy.  

Given its Alpine heritage, soil and bedrock composition are massively variable, though the region lays claim to the largest porphyry plate in the Alps. Porphyry is a group of igneous rocks with large grained crystals in a finer-grained mass, and the Alto Adige variety is red.  

Vineyard slopes

Interestingly, given the topographical and pedological complexity of the region, several producers cited altitude as a more important influence on a single grape variety than soil/bedrock, as there is a huge difference in average temperatures over the 800m spread of vineyard altitudes. Michael Goëss-Enzenberg, the owner of Tenuta Manincor said: “for a type of grape variety the altitude is more important. I couldn’t plant pinot noir at 200 metres, it would be overripe and jammy.”

Pinot noir needs a cool and cooler climate to perform at its aromatic best, and there is a tiny amount produced in Alto Adige/Süd Tyrol. But it is local red grape varieties schiava and lagrein that account for a third of the vineyard area, and some of these are interesting.  Overall, though, white wines edge out the reds, made from aromatic and semi-aromatic varieties, including pinot grigio, pinot bianco (weissburgunder/pinot blanc), sauvignon blanc and Müller Thurgau. Gewürztraminer is something of a speciality in the region.

The best are very good indeed. Here’s a small selection (more to follow) from the short visit I made in November. Fruity purity, focus, definition and flavour concentration are the watchwords.

Cantina Tramin, Pinot Grigio Unterebner 2007, Alto Adige DOC
Coming from a high vineyard 450 to 600 metres altitude.
Lush, slippery glycerol showing off a full body; linear profile, rich white stone fruit, focused.

Cantina Terlano, Weissburgunder classico 2008, Terlano DOC
This had stainless steel fermentation and 5 months on lees.
Creamy, white flowers, white nuts, pure linear profile, medium-full body, has faint salty tang (some might argue this is minerality?) that tingles on the tongue. Long palate and finish. Rich, almost white peachy. Really very nice.

Cantina Terlano, Quarz 2007, Terlano DOC
This has spent a year in 500 litre casks.
100% sauvignon blanc, showing a crystallised pineapple nose, with ginger notes. Full, rich, lush fruit, yet dry. Smooth, glycerol-like feeling with rich, full texture. Focus of fruit, clear definition, and some significant concentration, it demands attention. Long; long.

Tenuta Manincor, Sophie 2008, Vigneti della Dolomiti IGT
A blend of chardonnay, viognier, sauvignon blanc, “like salt and pepper in food” said the owner.
Fresh, with flavours of melon, white peach and stoniness; there’s an attractive chalky character to the mid palate creating a wine of elegance, and with dimension.

Weingut Unterortl, Castel Juval Riesling 2008.
Limey intensity, with a mountain-fresh purity of focus.  Medium bodied, with massive concentration, great elegance and a long palate profile. And a very long finish. Outstanding.

Tenute Loacker, Gewurztraminer 2008 Atagis, Alto Adige DOC
Atagis is an old name for river Isarco.
Aromatic rose petal, with a freshness of attack and attractive medium weight; the tasting balance is dry, with concentration and dry lusciousness. There are even some hints of green apple in the wine’s core. The (14%) alcohol is seamlessly integrated, giving a remarkably light yet intense whole.

This piece was inspired by a visit to the region in November 2009 sponsored by the Italian Trade Commission (ICE) and EOS, the export organisation of South Tyrol.

Llamas in Patagonia

Viticultural Chile is moving at a pace that would pride a troop of triffids. In a country where more than 40% of the vineyard area is less than 10 years old, new valleys, outside the preserve of the Central Valley, are being explored in the quest for cooler climate Chile.

But ‘normal’ climatic rules no longer apply. Chile may be that long, skinny country 4,200km from north to south and only 100km west to east, but Diego Benavente, winemaker at Matetic Vineyards, in San Antonio valley said “people say Chile is wider than it is long because the climate changes more dramatically east to west than it does north to south.” Marcelo Papa, Concha y Toro’s head winemaker drummed home the point: “In Chile 10 to 15km east to west can make the equivalent change of 400km north to south.”

So while Elqui to Bio-Bio is more than 1,000 km distant, it’s time to forget the north-south divide, and rethink Chile in terms of east and west, as well as low and high altitude.   

Fogs and ocean breezes

In many parts of the world, MJTs (mean January (southern hemisphere)/July (northern) temperatures) and degree days remain a useful starting block from which modifications and refinements can be made to identify climate zones. But the indefatigable Marcelo Retamal, climate and soil expert as well as De Martino’s chief winemaker, said “For me it’s most important to recognise the warm areas in the world using the average of the maximum temperature.” The mean temperature works, he said, but the high diurnal temperature variation in all parts of Chile is important.

The Humboldt current drives part of this, coming up from the Antarctic, bringing chilly winds.  Ocean influence is crucial and is often a combination of fog, near the coast, and ocean breezes, which can reach quite far inland, where transverse valley topography allows.  

Much of San Antonio Valley, on the west side of the coastal ranges, is open to direct ocean influences. Viviana Navarrete, the winemaker at Viña Leyda, 13km from the coast, said they have “mist and fog the whole year which stays till noon. Then breezes push the clouds away and we get sun in the afternoon, which allows us to ripen with freshness.”  

Freshness is an important issue for these producers. Francisco Ponce, winemaker at Viña Garcés Silva, which produces the Amayna brand, said they feel the “cool climate in the acidity of grapes. Here we don’t lose the acidity, it’s still at a good level.”

San Antonio is colder, windier and foggier than Casablanca. As well as general coolness, we return to the diurnals. Benavente said: “the difference between day and night is sometimes more than 20°C. Polyphenols evolve slower with high diurnals, we have to wait for them to ripen. There’s not much metabolism at night.” Even though viticulture is less than 10 years’ old, the valley’s suitability for sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir and some interesting early examples of cooler climate syrah have become evident.

Casablanca Valley

At just over 20 years old, the grand old dame of Casablanca, also on the ocean side of the coastal ranges, is these days regarded as a rather large and diverse region, erring towards 50km across, which is in fact notably warmer at its east end than its west end, given the latter’s greater proximity to those cold Humboldt breezes. Additionally the fogs, which provide temporary respite from the sun, do not reach the east end of the valley, and a temperature gradient of up to 4°C has been observed between the west and east of Casablanca, with the east end harvesting up to three weeks before the west end.

Luminosity

One thing the fog does is to reduce the level of luminosity. Benavente, in foggy San Antonio, said: “there’s less luminosity here. We’ve planted mostly north facing slopes to get more sun. In the ripening season say we get 3 to 4 foggy days a week.” The downside, he added, was that “too strong an ocean influence is detrimental to flowering and yields.”

Luminosity is all about the amount and intensity of light, independent of temperature. It’s great for photosynthesis. According to self-declared non-expert on the subject, Aurelio Montes, chairman, founding partner and winemaker of Viña Montes, “most grape varieties would love some luminosity for colour, phenols and tannins. It’s found more in high level altitude, where humidity is low.”

He added “luminosity is not temperature – mountains can be freezing, but with high luminosity.” (sunburn on the ski-slopes?). Retamal addresses this apparent paradox of sunburnt grapes and cooler climate:  “UV is part of luminosity. Limarí is cool climate in terms of temperature, but we have light, and the grape skins can get sunburn. We’re changing rows to east-west.  If rows are north-south, both sides of bunches burn.  If they’re east-west, the idea is the sun crosses over the row. We need to cover fruit with leaves.”  At De Martino’s Quebrada Estate, which is 24km from the ocean, he said “this year we decided not to use wires with VSP [vertical shoot positioning]. We let the shoots fall down [for shade], and we had no burn problem.  We picked three weeks later, the wine had 13.6% alcohol, the acidity was very good, the pH was good, the wine is outstanding.”

The Limarí valley is making a name for both chardonnay and syrah. Concha y Toro’s Papa explained their Maycas del Limarí  project: “Limarí is affected by the ocean. The coastal ranges do not exist [so plenty of wind]. But Limarí is quite extensive, there are some warm parts. In the area we’re growing, the maximum average January temperature is 25°C, the minimum average 12°C.”  He said this roughly compares to Puligny Montrachet, but the length of time over which the peak of temperature extends is longer in Limarí, which is important. Chile’s high alcohols are partly explained where the average maximum extends for several months. Compare this to Bordeaux for example, where it extends for just one month.

Parked just outside the winery

Further north still, despite a little closer proximity to the equator, Elqui Valley still has cool bits. De Martino own Chile’s highest vineyard at 2,000m ASL in Elqui, a region probably more famous for having some of the best quality light on the planet, to which several observatories attest. They’re using a new-to-winemaking training system, the parrón Elquino, a variant of the pergola, where a single long branch, angled at something approaching 45°, is trained at height to provide shade against sunburn. The system was originally created for local people who produce grapes for Pisco, and who know a thing or two about grape growing in the region.

Andean altitude

Moving over to eastern influences, the Andes also play their part in moderating temperature, in the foothills, offering a slightly cooler spot in an otherwise warmer area. As such it’s better suited to later ripening varieties, so while cabernet sauvignon is frozen out of the ocean coast, it finds succour in the Andean foothills. Cabernet sauvignon ripens late. It needs warmth to avoid herbal notes, so cool for cabs is more likely to be a cooler spot in a warmer clime. Andes and altitude rather than ocean and aeolian influences.

On the subject of cool climate cab, Montes said: “it doesn’t work in Casablanca, Leyda, and Limarí. There’s too much minty, eucalyptus and pyrazine flavours. But cool climate cabernet sauvignon is found in the Upper Maipo and foothills of Colchagua at 500 to 650m altitude. Over 700m is too cold. ”

Pérez Cruz takes advantage of just such a foothill spot, being 50km south east of Santiago in Maipo Alto, at altitudes of 480 to 520m. Their winemaker, Germán Lyon said: “it’s not a cool area, it’s warmer than Bordeaux, but it’s not too warm. The south east spot of Maipo is cooler than Colchagua for example. The vineyards are the first to be cooled by the Andes at night, and the last to be warmed during the day by ocean breezes. The day-night temperature variation is 18-20°C.” For late ripeners such as cabernet sauvignon, the trajectory continues to be finding cooler spots in the general warmth.

Antarctic latitude

Way down south towards the cooling Antarctic, Bio Bio valley is recently oft-touted for aromatic grape varieties such as riesling, gewürztraminer, even pinot noir. But disease pressure becomes more of an issue.  Rainfall increases as you go further south, more than 1,000mm in the Bio Bio to over 2,000mm at Puente Montt, south of Malleco Valley (which isn’t as far south as Marlborough in New Zealand).

But there’s that east-west effect again. Retamal explains: “It is the proximity to the ocean that will determine whether the climate is cool or not.  If you are close to the ocean or next to the canyon of a river where you can sometimes experience cooler breezes, you will be in a ‘cool climate’.  However, if you are close to Los Angeles, the main town in the region, the likelihood is that you will be in a warmer climate, since this middle area of Bio Bio generally records peak summer temperatures that push 33°C – warmer than Santiago.”

So, with apologies to Germany: thought you knew Chile – think again.