Fresh, elegant and bright Pinot Noir wine with aromas of raspberry, blueberry muffin and dried cranberry

This velvety and elegant Pinot Noir is produced by Peter Zemmer in Alto Adige - the German-speaking part of Italy. It offers flavours of forest raspberry and fresh red cherries. Peter produces wines of very high quality, and four of them have won the "Two Glasses" award from Gambero Rosso - probably the most prestigious national wine competition in Italy. Peter's secret is that his vineyard is located at 450 metres above sea level in the foothills of the Alps. Even in summer, cool winds from the glaciers help to preserve the natural acidity of the grapes.

Winemaking

To achieve a smooth and fresh aroma, Peter de-stems the grapes and ferments them for seven days at a constant temperature of 26-28 °C. He uses extended circulation and pumping over to encourage contact with the skins and extract more colour. After fermentation is finished, he gently and slowly removes the particles over the course of two rackings, when the wine is slowly pumped into another vat. This time-consuming method of clarification is typical for fine wines. After this, 70% of the Pinot Noir wine is aged for 8 months in large French oak barrels, while the rest is put into small, 2-3 year old French oak barriques. The wine is then blended to lend a delicate flavour of spice and smoke. It is then aged for another six months in bottle to fully integrate and refine the flavours.

Tasting notes

Medium ruby colour. This Pinot Noir wine has captivating aromas of fresh raspberry, red cherry, sweet blueberry muffin and dry cranberry. On the palate, it is dry with velvety flavours of fresh and dried red fruits, balanced with mouth-watering acidity. The wine benefits from a medium level of alcohol and a medium body. It's a developing wine: drink now or keep it in the cellar as it will continue to improve.

Ageing potential

Six years

Awards

Decanter World Wine Awards 2020 - Bronze Medal (2019 vintage) | Gambero Rosso - 2 glasses (2019 vintage) | James Suckling - 92 pts (2019 vintage), 90 pts (2017 vintage) | I Vini di Veronelli 2020 - 2 stars (2018 vintage)

Very complex Pinot Noir Riserva with notes of hibiscus tea, cranberry, rosemary, cloves and dried strawberry

Kurtatsch Glen was named one of the ten best Pinot Noirs in Italy by the “Concorso Pinot Nero”, a competition celebrating the notoriously finicky varietal. It prefers cool air and doesn’t like blazing sun, so it’s a challenging grape for Italy. That’s why the Glen vineyard isn't located in the village of Kurtatsch, which gets lots of sun in the morning and early afternoon, but on the eastern side of the Alto Adige valley instead. There, the grapes are sheltered from the burning summer sun until mid-afternoon. The vineyard is planted at an altitude stretching from 450 to 700 metres above sea level, where the cool Alpine nights help the Pinot Noir grapes to develop fresh and elegant flavours.

Winemaking: After pressing, the grape juice is cooled and left in contact with the skins for three days. This helps to extract more colour and flavour. After three days, the indigenous yeasts that live on the grape skins naturally kick-start the fermentation process. Then, the wine is fine-filtered and pumped partly into 225-litre French oak barriques (70%), and partly into large oak barrels (30%) to age for twelve months. This style of ageing in small barrels exposes a greater surface area of the wine to oak, imparting flavours of cloves and turning the colour from ruby to garnet. The wine is aged in a cellar built deep under the Alps, in a dolomite cave. This microclimate, which is rich in minerals, is truly unique to Kurtatsch.

Tasting notes: This wine has a medium garnet colour. On the nose, it offers pronounced aromas of hibiscus tea, cranberry, rosemary and cloves, followed by hints of leather, dried orange peel, dried strawberry and meaty notes. On the palate, this Pinot Noir wine is dry, with medium acidity. It has a high level of alcohol and a full body with visible tannins. It can be enjoyed now, but will further improve with ageing.

Wine Geek’s verdict: This wine has a lot of potential! It has enough vibrant cranberry juice flavours to keep it going in bottle for years, but there are already interesting things happening with its developed aromas (dried strawberry, dried orange peel, etc). The tannins are still quite grippy, which suggests there’ll be a lot of evolution in the future. The oak ageing style is quite firm; more in line with classic approaches rather than in the modern light-touch style where it’s almost undetectable.

Awards and ranking: James Suckling - 91 points (2017 vintage) | I Vini di Veronelli 2020 - 3 stars (2016 vintage)

Multi award-winning, rich and concentrated Pinot Nero Riserva wine from a high-altitude Alpine vineyard

This Pinot Nero Riserva offers a richer, more concentrated taste than any Pinot Nero we have ever tried. It absolutely bursts with flavours of dry rose, dark chocolate and black spices. The secret is that it's crafted from hand-picked grapes grown at an astonishing altitude of 1,030 metres. The vineyard - Vigna Kofl - is south-facing, so the grapes get lots of sunshine and ripen well despite the high altitude. Cold winds blowing down from the glaciers keep vines well ventilated and healthy. At such high elevation, the low night-time temperatures help the grapes to keep their natural zingy acidity. This preserves the natural freshness of the wine over many years.

Winemaking

The grapes are de-stemmed, crushed and fermented for seven days at a constant temperature of 26-28 °C. In order to extract more colour and tannins, Peter Zemmer uses extended circulation and pumping over during that period. When fermentation is finished, he gently and slowly removes the particles over the course of two rackings. This is when the wine is slowly pumped into another vat, without the use of a centrifuge. Racking is more time-consuming, but it's typical for fine wines. After this, the Pinot Nero Riserva is put into small French oak barriques to age for twelve months. Then, it is transferred into stainless steel vats to age for six months more. Finally, the wine is bottled and aged for six additional months, so that it can fully integrate and reach its true potential.

Tasting notes

Thanks to its unique high-altitude origins, this Riserva wine offers much more flavour than a standard Pinot Nero. When poured in the glass, it has a noble ruby colour with a pale orange rim. Give this wine a bit of time to breathe and open up, and it will delight you with aromas of dry rose and strawberry. On the palate, it offers tastes of dark chocolate and dry cranberry, underpinned by notes of black pepper and juniper berry. This Riserva wine is still developing, and will continue to age beautifully in the cellar for a long time.

Ageing potential: 10 years

Awards

Decanter World Wine Awards 2021 – Silver Medal (2018 vintage) | Robert Parker – 92 points (2018 vintage) | James Suckling - 92 points (2018 vintage) | Falstaff - 92 points (2018 vintage) | Decanter World Wine Awards 2020 - Silver Medal (2017 vintage) | "Two Glasses" by Gambero Rosso (2017 vintage)