Since the 1990s, a steadily growing number of self-marketers have enriched the South Tyrolean wine world with high-quality wines. Some of them are now among the most important addresses in South Tyrol. Three of them let us taste ripe vintages of their wines: Peter Dipoli his Sauvignon "Voglar", Martin Aurich his Riesling from the Vinschgau and Josephus Mayr his "Composition Reif", a cuvée of Cabernet Sauvignon, Lagrein and some Merlot.
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| Three freemen% who recognised the maturity qualities of their wines early on: Peter Dipoli% Martin Aurich and Josephus Mayr (Source: Roland Brunner) |
Peter Dipoli's Sauvignon "Voglar" grows in the Penon district of the municipality of Kurtatsch. The first vintage was produced in 1990 and at that time still vinified in the cellar of his friend Mario Pojer in neighbouring Trentino.
The altitude and the lime content of the soil offer favourable conditions for a good white wine. The relatively high altitude allows the grapes to ripen completely without any loss of acidity or aroma. "The aim was and is to produce a wine with complex aromas of tropical fruits, which lets you feel the white Sauvignon without any vegetal or unripe tones. A wine with clear acidity, with nerve and body and such a structure that it can develop for a few more years in the bottle," says Peter Dipoli. The winemaker has achieved this goal with the "Voglar".
The vines stand on terraced slopes between 500 and 600 metres in Penon, a district of Kurtatsch, facing northeast, east and south. The sandy soil has a high proportion of dolomite rock.
The vintages tasted:
2000 Sauvignon "Voglar
88 Almost a little reductive, lively and quite fresh, clearly planty bouquet with tart pepper notes, earthy tones, restrained, partly green fruit and minerality. Firm and dry in the mouth, vegetal and tart spice, a hint of yeast, earthy tones and some flint, some tannin on the palate, melting and power, persistent, slightly rustic style, very good finish. Through 2016+.
1995 Sauvignon "Voglar
87 Slightly hazy aroma of very ripe yellow fruit, physalis, a hint of rock candy and woodruff. Slightly wine-gum-like fruit in the mouth, tart vegetal and earthy tones, under-woody and tartly spicy, becomes firmer and more complex with air, slightly sandy-dry tannin, mineral tones, very good finish. Until 2013+.
1994 Sauvignon "Voglar
86 Lively, tight nose with tart herbal spice, elderberry notes, earthy tones, yellow and green fruits and a hint of tobacco. Tart fruit in the mouth, bitter spice and dried-vegetable flavours, pencil notes, not too deep but with some grip, typical, good finish. Drink.
1993 Sauvignon "Voglar
83 Herbaceous-vegetal aroma with dried-floral tones, some juniper and a hint of floor wax. Matured in the mouth, planty and a little floral, again also earthy and with juniper notes, some melting on the palate, some persistence, quite good finish. To drink.
The Peter Dipoli Winery in the Wine Guide
The Unterortl wine estate is located in the lower Vinschgau valley below Juval Castle. The owner is the South Tyrolean extreme mountaineer Reinhold Messner, who leased the estate to Gisela and Martin Aurich in 1992. Before becoming a vintner, Martin Aurich worked at the Laimburg experimental centre as head of the experimental department for cellar management. He therefore knows the technical side of winemaking inside out, and you can feel it in his products. They are wines without fault. But Martin Aurich is a trained technician who is primarily interested in the non-technical side of winemaking, and you can sense this even more in his wines. They are typical Vinschgau growths, "northern" wines from the south side of the Alps; racy wines with southern fullness and intensity.
The vines stand on very steep vineyards facing south-southeast and overcome a difference in altitude of almost 250 metres. The subsoil consists of easily heated primary rock weathering soil (gneiss rocks), and the high temperature differences between day and night as well as a lot of air movement ensure wines with pronounced aromatics.
The vintages tasted:
2006 Riesling "Castel Juval
86 Clear aroma of partly candied citrus fruits, peach pits, physalis and a hint of rhubarb with herbal notes and minerality. In the mouth again physalis, plus grapefruit and tart herbs, fine acidity, chalky minerality reminiscent of stone dust on the palate, yeasty traces, good persistence, very good finish. Through 2014+.
2005 Riesling "Castel Juval
88 Aroma of ripe pome fruit and candied citrus with a hint of capers and earthy soil tones. Firm and tart in the mouth, a hint of ripe but juicy, almost radiant fruit, fine tannic notes, minerality reminiscent of stone dust, firm construction, very good finish. Until 2015+.
2004 Riesling "Castel Juval
88 Clear, firm bouquet of citrus fruits, some stone fruit and a hint of capers with mineral tones. Clear, sweet-tart fruit in the mouth, minerality reminiscent of stone dust, fine, tight acidity, has grip and pull, tart vegetal notes, harmonious, some tannin, very good finish. Until 2014+.
2003 Riesling "Castel Juval
85 Vegetal and somewhat earthy aroma of dried herbs, candied citrus fruits, some capers, olives and wax. Ripe, melting fruit in the mouth, dried-vegetable and earthy notes, some tannin, candy notes and a hint of caramel, stone dust on the palate, has grip but only limited depth, good finish. Through 2013.
The Unterortl Winery in the Wine Guide
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The Mayr family's Unterganzner estate is located in the Bolzano suburb of Kardaun, in a less than idyllic setting right next to the state road. But as soon as you enter the farm and close the gate behind you, you find yourself in another world. You can no longer hear anything from the road, and the only sound is the murmur of the stream flowing past the winery, which supplies the farm with energy. Otherwise, there is peace and quiet and the warm family atmosphere of three generations living under one roof. And Josephus Mayr's wines also take you into another world - one of fullness, intensity and differentiated concentration.
Josephus loves powerful growths. He likes to dry grapes to give the wine even more intensity. His "Lamarein", a single-varietal Lagrein made from dried grapes, is the "Amarone of South Tyrol". But for Josephus Mayr, power and fullness are never an end in themselves and the sole characteristic of his wines. They always have that certain something that makes them fascinating.
For the tasting, Josephus Mayr brought four vintages of his "Composition Reif", a cuvée of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Lagrein. The latter is always represented with about 20 percent in the blend, the Petit Verdot share is eight to ten percent. The vineyards are located in the Bolzano valley basin and consist of alluvial soils of porphyric origin and moraine soil. The grapes are cultivated on both pergola and wire frames and are planted at a density of 6,000 to 10,000 canes. The average age of the vines is 18 years. In July, 60 per cent of the grapes are thinned out. Some of the Cabernet grapes are dried on the vine and the harvest is very late often into mid-November.
The vintages tasted:
1998 Mature
87 Aroma of seasoned meat and root vegetables, capers, black olives, dark berries, some tobacco and coffee with earthy traces. Powerful, fleshy fruit, nut tones and earthy notes, malt, a hint of pepper and tobacco, lots of melt and warmth, fine dusty tannin, smoky notes, cedary bitter tones, has grip, very good finish. Through 2016+.
1997 Mature
90 Somewhat dried-meaty nose of black berries with dried-floral tones, graphite, tobacco and minerality and a hint of liquorice. Powerful, concentrated and tart in the mouth, melting fruit with nutty wood flavours and dark chocolate, ripe, friable tannins, dried-vegetable flavours on the palate, tart earthy tones, firmly wrought, good depth, a little rustic and lingering, very good finish. Through 2018+.
1995 Mature
92 Quite distinctive, lively and fresh, smoky bacon aromas of cedar, asparagus tips, capers, graphite and mineral tones. Firm and concentrated in the mouth, dried fruit, bitter chocolate and tart nut aromas, sandy but ripe tannin, smoke, bitter malt, graphite, hops and bitter malt on the palate, daz dried tomatoes and olives, mineral, compact, very good finish. Only at the beginning of its best time. Until 2018+.
1992 Mature
88 Aged aroma of black berries and olives, tobacco and mixed pickles with earthy tones. Tart and drying in the mouth, notes of olives, dates, smoke, leather and mixed pickles with earthy notes and a hint of soup green, fine tannin, very good finish. Probably at the end of its possibilities by now, but still very good. Drink.