PIWI’s Big Wine Adventure
Trink Magazine | Are PIWIs or grape hybrids our viticultural future as the climate crisis makes winegrowing more, not less, challenging? By Christoph Raffelt
We admit that the name for the German-speaking part of Italy is a mouthful: Südtirol-Alto Adige. Or, as we like to say, South Tyrol. But this small and striking Alpine playground is where we go to explore the possibilities of elevation and microclimate all the way up to 1,000 meters. Co-ops are in the region’s DNA. But so are historic estates and adventurous micro-producers. Germanic and Burgundian varieties are as at home here as local heroes Vernatsch/Schiava, Lagrein, and Gewürztraminer.
Pinot Blanc is neither a distinctive cépage nor a particular grape variety – at least, not from the viewpoint of ampelography or genetics. And what there is of pure Pinot Blanc worldwide is nearly all rendered in German-speaking growing regions where it is typically known as Weissburgunder.