New Views from Südtirol-Alto Adige
A new generation of growers is breathing life into wines of Südtirol-Alto Adige.
A new generation of growers is breathing life into wines of Südtirol-Alto Adige.
Aleksandar Zecevic, or Aleks, hails from Belgrade, Serbia. He grew up around a family table where love for wine was nurtured. After relocating to New York City for college, Aleks worked in various facets of the wine industry. These experiences cultivated a greater appreciation, and he furthered his passion by taking WSET courses and landed a job at Wine Spectator. After a training at the magazine and pursuing professional studies in journalism at New York University, Aleks became one of the lead tasters at the magazine. He then moved on to become a fine wine specialist at the renowned auction house, Sotheby’s. Today, Aleks specializes in reviewing Austrian, German and Alsatian wines for Wine Enthusiast and is an avid supporter of eco-friendly agriculture. He also hosts the Vintners podcast.
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
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,…...
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…...
Trink Magazine | This primer offers insight into the surprising contrasts and dynamics at play in the wines of Alto Adige, this small, mountainous, and little known corner of northeast Italy.
My first, late spring 2018 visit with Marlies and Martin Abraham in their cellar on the edge of Eppan-Appiano proved an inspirational personal discovery. A young couple leaves behind former professions to follow a vinicultural dream of activism in the vineyard and minimalism in the cellar, becoming the first to vinify and bottle wine from the vineyards they have inherited: In itself, that story is nowadays (thankfully) far from unusual. But in Südtirol-Alto Adige, it’s an audacious exception. Moreover, I was amazed by how distinctly delicious were Abrahams’ interpretations of each among the four grape varieties they chose to champion, especially considering…...
At 2,010 meters above sea level, the first thing that changes is your breathing. The second is your appetite. By the time you are standing outside a mountain hut with a glass of Blauburgunder in hand, something else has shifted too. The wine tastes different up here. In December, I went to Alta Badia, a small, jagged pocket of Südtirol-Alto Adige, with skis, a notebook, and a question. Nestled among the villages of San Cassiano, La Villa, Corvara, and the Campolongo Pass, the region is defined by its verticality, snow, and fine cuisine. Every year, as the ski season starts,…...
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