At the Summa wine fair a small crowd gathers in the shadows of ancient buildings and Alpine peaks under blue skies.
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Is Summa the Future of Wine Fairs?

ByNils Kevin Puls

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…...

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Baking ingredients are set out on a counter below a bright window. A bottle of wine and wine glass are centered.
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A Star Baker’s Obsession with an Alpine Cake Elevates an Unlikely Wine

ByMartin Sorge

A baker falls in love with hiking, cake and wine in the Italian wine region of Südtirol-Aldo Adige and returns home to recreate the textures and flavors.

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A bumblebee pollinating flowers in a regenerative vineyard in Alto Adige
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Rooted and Regenerative

BySara Emilia Nässén

It starts with the soil. “I am passionate about the microbial world under our feet, and the key role it plays in the vine’s adaptation to climate change,” says agronomist Martina Broggio, a sustainable viticulture consultant in northern Italy, Tuscany, Marche, and Puglia. Since 2018, Broggio has been helping wineries in Alto Adige move in a regenerative direction. Regenerative Viticulture (RV) requires a significant paradigm shift within vineyard management, where soil is understood as a living environment rather than as a container for growing grapes. It envisions an ecosystem in which all parts of the vineyard, including roots and bacteria,…...

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Rainer Zierock: Visionary Provocateur
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Rainer Zierock: Visionary Provocateur

ByRainer Schäfer

If Emilio Zierock finds it hard to talk about his controversial father, you can’t tell by listening to him. He speaks with remarkable openness about the man. Rainer Zierock, who passed away in 2009, was a brilliant visionary, but also in all likelihood the grandest provocateur in post-war German and Italian viticulture. The powerfully eloquent and often choleric Zierock was considered an eccentric of note, and one who went after everyone. More than a few people also consider him a misunderstood genius, far ahead of his time. His influence on the young wine generation, and particularly the natural wine scene,…...

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Bottle of red wine from Valle Isarco next to a white plate of Eight Treasure Rice on a white tablecloth bordered by a flower bouquet
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Eat + TRINK | A Sweet Delicacy Calls for Schiava

ByJoyce Lin

Lunar New Year (aka Spring Festival, or Guo Nian in Mandarin) is arguably the most important holiday for people of Chinese heritage — especially in Taiwan, where I grew up. It’s been my favorite since I was a kid. Now, living in Brooklyn, I recall that a few days before the New Year every household starts to “sweep the dust” to banish bad luck, erase unhelpful habits, and create positive new ones. On the day before New Year’s Eve (a holiday we call Little New Year’s Eve), we will take down the old Spring Festival couplets and replace them with fresh verses. On New…...

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