Cantina Tramin – Top 100

Another in my series of the Top 100 producers of Italian wine

Throughout Italy, co-operative producers represent a way of making wine that speaks of the true soul of the land. These companies produce wines from fruit contributed by member/growers in the area; co-operatives vary in size from a few dozen members to several hundred.

As you might imagine, quality varies from pleasant to extraordinary. While these companies dot the landscape throughout Italy, it is in Alto Adige where the concept of co-operative producers has risen to the highest levels, as many of the most famous bottlings from this region are indeed products of co-ops.

Cantina Tramin (also known as Produttori Termeno – this is a bi-lingual region) is a superb co-operative producer, one that releases some of the finest bottlings of Gewurztraminer, Pinot Bianco, Sauvignon and Lagrein that Alto Adige has to offer. Founded in 1898, the winery is located in the town of Tramin, in the southern heart of this region. The wines are made by Willi Sturz, a quiet, rather shy man, who is a brilliant enologist. His wines have remarkable structure and balance as well as beautiful varietal purity. These are wines that are crafted to reflect the local terroir and not the pulse of the market place; thankfully, enough important journalists have recognized the outstanding quality of the wines from Cantina Tramin.

There are so many wonderful wines worth your time and I highly recommend a visit to this winery, as you can purchase very good bottlings of Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio and other local specialites for 5-7 Euro a bottle. These are very well made with fine varietal character and are worth more than their asking price. Try these and then move on to the remarkable single vineyard and selezione bottlings that represent the best of this region; I don’t have space to list all of my favorite wines, so I’ll just mention a few.

Willi Sturz, Winemaker, Cantina Tramin (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

The most famous wine here is the “Nussbaumer” Gewurztraminer, a selection of the best grapes from a small vineyard near the winery. Interestingly, the sections of this vineyard are planted with different regimes; the oldest part is in the pergola (overhead) system, while the newest plantings are with the guyot system. The wine offers amazing aromatics of lychee, grapefruit and rose petals along with a bit of tropical fruit thrown in for good measure and is deeply concentrated with vibrant acidity. Aged solely in stainless steel that enriches the aromatics and lovely varietal character, this is a stellar bottling and in my opinion, one of the top 10 white wines produced in Italy.

Another great wine is a white blend known as Stoan, a melange of Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Pinot Bianco and Geuwurztraminer. Full-bodied with complex aromatics and distinct spice, this wine receives aging in large casks – no small oak barrels here – and is a beautiful wine that can acompany a variety of dishes from seafood to risotto to pork.

There are so many other wines from Cantina Tramin that rate special notices; these include the “Urban” Lagrein, a seductive red; the “Tauris” Pinot Bianco that simply bursts with varietal fruit; the “Montan” Sauvignon, an intense, yet elegant offering of this variety and the sumptuous late-harvest Gewurztraminer “Termimum”, clearly one of Italy’s most exceptional dessert wines.

Honestly, I would list Cantina Tramin as a Top 100 producer if only for the “Nussbaumer” Gewurztraminer (let’s face it, several of my Top 100 producers are known for only one wine), but this producer is responsible for at least a half-dozen great wines each year. Cantina Tramin is undoubtedly one of Italy’s greatest wineries.

Among the finest wines of Cantina Tramin are:

• Gewurztraminer “Nussbaumer”
• “Stoan” (Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Pinot Bianco, Gewurztraminer)
• Pinot Bianco “Tauris”
• Sauvignon “Montan”
• Lagrein “Urban”
• Pinot Grigio “Unterebner”
• Gewurztraminer “Terminum Vendemmia Tardiva”

Italian Varieties – P to S

Sagrantino vineyards near Montefalco (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

 

P

Pecorino

White variety from Abruzzo and Marche. Generally aged in stainless steel, though some vinters barrel age it, achieving a creaminess. Pear and apple aromas.

Piedirosso

Lovely red variety of Campania, literally meaning “red feet,” a descriptor for the birds that sit on the vines when they eat the ripe berries. High acid, light tannins and charming fruit flavors of raspberry, cranberry and black cherry. Primarily used as a blending varietal; in small percentages (less than 15%), it cuts the aggressive tannic bite of Aglianico in the great Campanian red, Taurasi. It is also the primary variety in the medium-bodied Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio Rosso.

Pigato

One of Liguria’s most important white varieties with flavors of pineapple and pear with notes of herbs (often rosemary).

Pignolo

Red variety of Friuli with big tannins and deep color and flavors of black fruits. Used only by a few producers and often in blends.

Pinot Bianco

The most widely planted white variety in Alto Adige, this has flavors of apples with a touch of spice. Examples vary from light, crisp and refreshing to more serious bottlings with deep fruit concentration and distinct minerality (such as the top examples from producers such as Cantina Terlano, Cantina Tramin and Alois Lageder.)

Pinot Grigio

Wildy popular white variety grown in several regions of Italy, with the finest bottlings coming from the cool northern regions of Alto Adige and Friuli. Flavors of apple, pear and dried flowers with most examples being quite light and simple. A few producers make single vineyard or special selection bottlings that are more complex. (Known as Pinot Gris in France and other countries.)

Pinot Nero

Known almost everwhere else in the world as Pinot Noir, this is a red variety with moderate tanins, cherry/strawberry fruit and high acidity. A few examples from Piemonte and Tuscany, but the best in Italy are from Alto Adige.

Primitivo

Red variety of Puglia, with deep color, black fruits and plenty of spice. Generally found in southern Pugila and often bottled on its own. DNA related to Zinfandel of California.

Prosecco

White variety from Veneto and Friuli used in the production of the sparkling wine of the same name. Flavors of white peach and lemon, aged in steel tanks.

Prugnolo Gentile

The name for Sangiovese in the town of Montepulciano (used in the wine Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.)

 

R

Refosco

The complete name of this variety is Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso – or “Refosco with a red stalk.” Yields wines of big spice, red fruit and distinctive tannins.

Ribolla Gialla

Charming white variety of Friuli that produces light to medium-bodied wines with high acidity and flavors of pear, lemon, chamomile and dried flowers.

Rondinella

One of the major red varieties of the Valpolicella district with deep color and good fruit (red cherry) intensity and moderate tannins.

Ruché

Rarely seen red variety grown near Asti in Piemonte that makes a lightly spicy, high acid red.

 

S

Sagrantino

Red variety of Umbria, grown only in the Montefalco area. Known for its intense tannins, Sagrantino is even more tannic than Nebbiolo. Cherry fruit and distinct spiciness as well. Sagrantino is made in both a dry and sweet (passito) version.

Ripe Sagrantino Grapes (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

 

Sangiovese

One of Italy’s most famous and widely planted red varieties, this is best known for its use in three famous Tuscan reds: Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Brunello di Montalcino. High acid, garnet color and fresh red cherry fruit along with notes of cedar; today some modernists have tweaked Sangiovese to deepen the color and add spice and vanilla from small oak barrels. Sangiovese is also planted in Umbria, Marche and Emilia Romagna.

Sauvignon

Known as Sauvignon Blanc throughout the rest of the world, this white variety is found most famously in Friuli and Alto Adige, where it produces assertive wines with bracing acidity and flavors of asparagus, pea and freshly mown hay. Also grown along the coasts of Tuscany.

Schiava

Red variety from Friuli that produces lighter reds with cherry, currant fruit, high acidity and light tannins. Also known as Vernatsch.

Schioppetino

Red variety of Friuli with big tannins and spice. Only a few producers work with this grape.

Sciasinoso

Red variety of Campania with lively acidity, dark berry fruit and moderate tannins. Usually a blending variety, but also used to make a lightly sparkling red wine.

Susumaniello

Red variety of Puglia with deep purple color and big tannins. Usually part of a blend, but sometimes bottled on its own. Interestingly, the name of the grape is loosely transalted as “the back of a donkey,” perhaps because of its productivity in the vineyard.

 

 

Alto Adige – Superb White Wines

 

Vineyards near the town of Cortaccia, Alto Adige (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

 

Some of Italy’s finest white wines – and a few wonderful reds -are produced in the region of Alto Adige. In reality, Alto Adige is the northern part of the Trentino-Alto Adige region, but as Alto Adige is so different in nature from Trentino – as well as the rest of Italy – I will discuss Alto Adige separately.

 

There are several things that make Alto Adige so distinct. First is the situation of dual languages used here, both Italian and German. Alto Adige until the end of World War l was part of the Austria-Hungary empire, so the German influence is still quite strong. Menus in restaurants, road signs and even names of cities are bilingual – for example, the town of Termeno is also known as Tramin, while the region’s largest city of Bolzano is also known by its German name of Bozen (Alto Adige itself is also known as Südtirol, or South Tyrol.)

This is one of Italy’s most gorgeous wine zones, as vineyards have been squeezed in every possible inch amidst valleys below the Dolomite Mountains as well as on steep hillsides. The northern border of Alto Adige abuts Austria, so this is a cool climate, best suited for white wines. Thanks to moderate temperatures and cold air from the mountains, the local whites have vibrant acidity, one of the signatures of Alto Adige whites.

 

WHITE VARIETIES

The leading variety planted in Alto Adige is Pinot Bianco; versions vary from simple, crisp dry whites to more medium-full efforts with a light spiciness. PInot Grigio is also popular here and as these wines have excellent acidity, they are among the very best examples of this variety produced in Italy. 

The two finest varieties are Gewurztraminer and Sauvignon (known as Sauvignon Blanc outside of Italy). Gewurztraminer comes from the German word gewurz, meainng spicy. This is one of the most beautiful aromatic varieties grown anywhere and it is in the town of Tramin (thus Gewurztraminer means roughly, “spicy from Tramin” that it reaches it heights. There are three superior bottlings of Gewurztraminer from Tramin: the “Kastelaz” from Elena Walch, the “Kolbenhof” from J. Hofstatter and the “Nussbaumer” from Cantina Tramin. Each of these three is a full-bodied, tremendously complex Gewurztraminer with exotic aromas of lychee, grapefruit and yellow roses along with rich spiciness in the finish. All have beautiful texture (the Hofstatter has almost an oily feel on the palate) and age well for 3-5 years and sometimes longer. These wines are ideal with Thai food, although Martin Foradori told me it is a pity that there are no Thai restaurants in Tramin!

As for Sauvignon, the best versions in Alto Adige combine intense varietal aromatics of bell pepper, pear and asparagus with bracing acidity – these are not the simple, fresh, melon-tinged versions of this variety you would find in a warmer climate. Rather these are intense with plenty of herbal character to them, so pair these with seafood with herbal sauces or accompaniments. Among the best bottlings of Alto Adige Sauvignon are the “Montan” from Cantina Tramin,” the “Castel Ringberg” from Elena Walch, the “Sanct Valentin” from St. Michael-Eppan, the “Quartz” from Cantina Terlano and the “Lafoa” from Colterenzio. Each of these wines is outstanding; in my opinion, the “Lafoa” is a brilliantly realized Sauvignon and is one of the finest white wines produced today in all of Italy!

Among the best producers of white wines in Italy today are the following producers:

• Abbazia di Novacella
• Cantina Terlano
• J. Hofstatter
• Alois Lageder
• Colterenzio
• St. Michal-Eppan
• Tiefenbrunner
• Cantina Tramin
• Elena Walch

 

COOPERATIVE PRODUCERS

Most regions in Italy have large co-operative wineries where grower members sell their grapes. This is a long-standing tradition in Alto Adige and it is here that there are more great co-operative producers than anywhere else in Italy. Among the best are Cantina Tramin, Cantina Terlano, St. Michal-Eppan and Colterenzio. 

Coopertive producers have the great advantage of purchasing some of the finest grapes in all of Alto Adige and as they have so many grower members (most usually have more than 100), prices can be kept at reasonable levels.

 

Vineyards of Alois Lageder near Lake Caldaro (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

 

ORGANIC/BIODYNAMIC

Alto Adige is becoming one of the top regions in Italy for wines made from organically grown grapes as well as wines made according to biodynamic procedures. Several producers are working with these practices, none more highly regarded than Alois Lageder. A courteous, reflective individual, Lageder has been producing organic wines for some years now and recently released a Chardonnay/Pinot Grigio blend under the “beta delta” moniker (the 2008 is stunning!). A toast to Alois Lageder and other Alto Adige producers for their work with organic and biodynamic wines!

 

In a future post, I will deal with the unique reds of Alto Adige, from the sensual Pinot Nero to the ripe, forward, purple-hued Lagrein.