In a world like that of wine, where nothing repeats itself in the same way year after year, the productive fabric of the province of Bolzano stands out for the awareness with which producers are facing new challenges. These challenges not only involve climate change or the sudden volatility of markets but above all, the management of the territory, the development of its potential, and the transition from a production that meets customer demands to one that values the connection between the many cultivated grape varieties and the exposures that best suit them
This renewed awareness has led smaller companies to specialize in the vocation of their vineyards, as perfectly highlighted by city-based companies or more distant realities of Valle Isarco. Similarly, cooperative structures reserve the best selections only for the grape varieties that best suit their territory. Thanks to a positive sequence of vintages such as '20, '21, '22, the distribution of awards involves the entire province, with the fresh and aromatic whites of the Isarco and Venosta valleys echoing the Bolzano Lagrein, which never fails to assert its richness.
Tre Bicchieri 2024. The best Lagrein wines
Here, we focus specifically on the 2 Lagrein wines that we awarded in the Gambero Rosso Vini d'Italia 2024 guide. One is the Lagrein Riserva 2020 from Untermoserhof Georg Ramoser, which is once again a demonstration of the absolute value of this territory: its aromas range from dark fruit to spices, from the undergrowth to a distinct note of licorice. In the mouth, it is full, dense in tannin yet finds agility and dynamism in the saline and acidic push. The Ramoser family's winery is nestled in one of the most iconic places in South Tyrolean wine, the Santa Maddalena hill. On the outskirts of Bolzano, this gentle hill stands out clearly against the sky and the Renon, covered with vines up to the top since time immemorial, leaving space only for a handful of cellars. Here, Schiava and Lagrein have always occupied the Ramoser family's vineyards, a handful of hectares supplemented by small plots in the Oltradige territory, where white grapes and Bordeaux varietals find a home.
The other is the Lagrein Taber 2021 from Cantina Bozen, a wine produced with grapes grown in vineyards that lie on the city basin and offers intense notes of dark fruit and spices on the nose, with oak appearing only in the background. In the mouth, it is full, rigorous, and of excellent progression. The Bolzano winery is the focal point around which the activity of more than 200 families revolves, passionate and attentive custodians of a territory that ranges from the Bolzano basin to the mouth of the Isarco Valley and the steepest and highest slopes of the Renon. Each grape variety thus finds its ideal positioning, relying on soils, exposures, and climatic conditions that are very diverse from each other, for a harvest that now comes from 350 hectares of vineyards. Ample space is dedicated to all the grape varieties of the region, but the place of honor traditionally remains for Schiava and Lagrein.
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