Valle Isarco presents its mountain Pinot Noir

A Pinot Noir is the first red wine chosen by the Valle Isarco Cooperative winery to go into its flagship Aristos line. 

This Pinot Noir label arrives to consolidate a period of growth that the winery, which is based in Chiusa but has 135 members scattered throughout the Valle Isarco, has been undertaking for a few years now and that is seeing it grow in terms of both production and quality, ultimately boasting the entry as oenological consultant of Riccardo Cotarella in 2020 as well.

"Ours is the winery with the highest vineyard in Italy," says General Manager Armin Gratl, "more than half of the vines are in fact over 750 meters above sea level, which is why it has always specialized in the production of white wines, particularly from Kerner, Sylvaner, Grüner Veltliner, Müller-Thurgau, Riesling and aromatic Traminer grapes. However, we felt it was time to make a major red as well. At our disposal we had vineyards of Schiava, Lagrein, Zweigelt and Pinot Noir: the choice fell on the latter because we were convinced it was able to express itself with greater elegance." The experimentation lasted five years, until the final decision was made to bottle the first born, with the 2020 vintage.

"The vineyard of origin is located in Campodazzo, at 600 meters above sea level with a south-southeast exposure on porphyritic soils with limestone deposits of dolomite rock," explains winery winemaker Hannes Munter. "The plants have an average age of 25 years and yields are around 60 quintals per hectare. Two Pinot Noir clones are present, both from France: 165 and 777. Two very different plants, which we also work differently in the winery. For the 777 we do destemming and fermentation in open vats, while for the 165, which tends to develop fruitier and riper hints, we do cold maceration and fermentation in steel of the whole bunch, with stems. Subsequently, the wine matures 18 months in tonneau." The goal is, in fact, to preserve as much as possible all the freshness and crispness of the fresh fruit, which only these altitudes and this mountain climate can impart to the grapes. After all, that in the Eisack Valley is, to all intents and purposes, heroic viticulture, since it takes place at high altitudes with slopes of up to 55 percent and work to be done essentially by hand.

The result is an Alsatian-style Pinot Noir, unloaded in color, spicy in its olfactory hints, with notes of sour berries, and with a gritty and irresistible drink, characterized by an exuberant acidity and viscous tannin, well counterbalanced by the alcoholic dowry and a sapidity capable of perfectly rehydrating the mouthfeel. A wine that "you'd like to drink every day," as Armin rightly suggests, capable of juggling at the table with ease in multiple pairings, territorial and otherwise: from the most obvious, but certainly enjoyable, platters of good fatty cured meats, with South Tyrolean speck at the forefront, to dumplings; from stuffed pastas or topped with barnyard ragout to barbecued red meats. But perhaps the most interesting pairing is with fish, be it salmon trout in butter and herbs or fatty fish in the oven; or, in the perfect combo with a spaghetti with mullet sauce (as personally experienced by the writer), where the sweetness of the tomato goes to soften the acidic-tannic edges of the glass.

The wine, which this year comes in the Alto Adige Pinot Noir type, will become for all intents and purposes Riserva from next year and comes out on the shelf at a price of 29 euros. Its only flaw? There is very little of it! Only 2,000 bottles were produced for this first release, most of which will be directed toward Ho.Re.Ca and regional domestic consumption, areas where the company pours almost 90 percent of its production. So if your trusted restaurateur should have won a bottle, don't let it get away.

Cantina Valle Isarco
Alto Adige Valle Isarco Pinot Noir Aristos 2020 

92/100 - € 29

(click on the name to read the tasting note)

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