A tiny pilot project created by immigrants for immigrants is taking root in the small wineries of Alto Adige-Südtirol. V.I.T.E. — Viticulture Integration Training Empowerment — is an innovative partnership that grew out of shared need. A demographic shift in this Alpine corner of northern Italy is bringing with it a shortage of skilled vineyard workers. Where grandparents and cousins once pitched in, trained immigrants from around the world may begin to take up that role. According to organizers, the beauty of this public-private approach to addressing the gap between labor supply and demand is that it also fosters understanding…
Valerie Kathawala specializes in the wines of Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, and Switzerland, as well as those closer to her home in New York City. Her work appears in the pages of Noble Rot, Full Pour, SevenFifty Daily and a number of other tolerant publications.
Gatherings dedicated to wines outside the mainstream have become ubiquitous. Even so, one fair seems to cut through the noise: Summa. This small event, held each spring ahead of the global trade convention Vinitaly, has established itself as the grande dame of the alternative wine scene. But it’s fair to ask: with so much competition, does Summa still shine? It’s early April and the sun glistens on the peaks of the Alps, which remain white even now. On the southbound train from Bozen, the mood is good. It’s 10 am but temperatures have already reached high-summer levels. Arriving in the…...
Miau! from Martin Gojer and Marion Untersulzner of Weingut Pranzegg in Bozen, South Tyrol could not be more “critter,” but is it also more? By Daniel and Liliana Schönberger
Trink Magazine | St. Magdalener represents perhaps the most powerful and structured of the many Vernatsch expressions in Alto Adige and constitutes an important part of the region’s identity. By Simon Staffler
Skin-contact white wines may have their revolutionary roots in Georgia, Slovenia, and Friuli, but the umlaut zone also stakes a strong claim for orange expressions. Austria was an early and highly successful adopter (think Tschida and Tscheppe, Muster and Meinklang). For this, thank geographic proximity, shared traditions, a former empire’s worth of fascinating white varieties, and the remarkable open-mindedness of producers, especially in Styria and Burgenland. Germany came later to the game. The country has been slower to embrace natural and experimental styles generally and its signature variety, Riesling, requires an exceptionally deft hand to succeed in skin-fermented form. However, German…...
