Pinot Noir 2004, Alois Lageder
13th October 2008
Many years ago some friends and I explored the Italian South Tyrol. I do not believe there is such a place as Paradise, but if there were, it would not look very different from what we found: Alpine mountains, fairytale castles, exquisite villages, a region whose highest altitudes remain snowy all year round, yet whose valleys are so warm that palm trees thrive in them.
Best of all, this is a land of wine. Its valleys and hillsides bristle with vines; its summer air tingles with the odour of grape. They say Gewürztraminer originated here, in the village of Tramin. This is also the only place I know that makes a really good Müller-Thurgau, Tiefenbrunner’s remarkable Feldmarschall. Better yet, this region makes the finest Pinot Noir in the Italian peninsula.
The Tyroleans call the Pinot Noir grape Blauburgunder - “Blue Burgundian” - but the wine they make from it is not especially Burgundian, for their soil and climate have little in common with those of the Côte d’Or. No matter: the best Blauburgunders are magnificent wines in their own right, with the gamey quality common to all the great Pinots. The most illustrious is Hofstätter’s Vigna St Urbano, but this is almost impossible to find. If you are shopping in the US or the UK, look instead for a Blauburgunder from the firm of Alois Lageder.
Herr Lageder’s family has been making wine for over 150 years, yet his winery is among the most modern in the South Tyrol, being solar powered and, for those who care about such things, carbon-neutral. His wines are clean-tasting and elegant in the contemporary style, and they offer excellent value. I paid $18 dollars (£10) for this 2004, half what one would pay for a Pinot Noir of similar calibre from New Zealand or Oregon. It has a rich, foresty nose, and a slightly bitter palate suggesting leather, berries and a touch of candied fruit peel.
Drinking this wine brought back a rush of memories from my trip all those years ago. I reflect now as I did then, that the South Tyrol offers practically everything a civilized man could ask for. Had there been any way for an English writer to earn a living there, I should probably have made it my home. As it is, I can only envy Herr Lageder and his colleagues their fortune in pursuing the most rewarding of occupations in the most beautiful place on Earth.
