We stopped at Valle Isarco in Chiusa/Klausen for a visit with Peter Baumgartner, the president of the Valle Isarco cooperative. We tasted through the top level of white wines. A cooperative is a non-profit. The members (about 140 of them for Valle Isarco) all bring their grapes to the cooperative to be turned into wine. The growers generally have small plantings, from less than a hectare (a hectare is about 2.5 acres) to several hectares.
Our favorites were the Riesling, Sylvaner, Gewurztraminer, and Kerner. Then Peter let us taste a Sylvaner and a Riesling from the vineyards around the Sabiona monastery in Chiusa. Amazing! Then he let us taste the Passita, a dessert wine, sweet but not at all cloying. A fabulous range of wines that, alas, are not easily available in the United States.
In Bolzano we visited Kellerei Kaltern, also a cooperative, a short walk from the city center. While Valle Isarco focuses on whites, Kellerei Kaltern is about red wines. We especially liked the Lagrein, another local grape. Here, also, we tasted a Passita, and, again, sweet but not syrup.
Research is hard work.
I certainly admire your stamina and fortitude in the task before you. Please keep up this diligent research for us all stuck here with our WA and CA wines.
ReplyDelete