Alois Lageder, Südtirol – Alto Adige (Italy) Pinot Grigio 2018

 Südtirol-Alto Adige is Italy’s northernmost wine region, situated on the borders of Switzerland, Lichtenstein and Austria.  Though it is one of the smallest wine regions in Italy, it nevertheless boasts the largest percentage of vineyard area classified as DOC.  Alois Lageder once told me “it is where the cool air of the Alps in the north and warm sun of the Mediterranean of the south come together.”  Like many of us today, the Lageders’ concern is climate change, especially for Pinot Grigio, because it is not a naturally a grape with high acidity.  Porer is one of the wines in their “Composition” line, because it’s composed of three versions of Pinot Grigio.  One portion of the grapes was pressed immediately upon arrival at the winery and the juice fermented in large oak barrels, spending a bit of time on the lees.  The second part spent 15 hours on skins, then was fermented.  For the third part, whole grape clusters spent a full year before being fermented, then spent another eight months on the skins after fermentation.  The proportion of each component varies each year, but generally the blend is 70 percent part one, 20 percent part two and ten percent part three.  I did not know any of this when I tasted the wine, but my tasting notes suggested something different was going on.  The color is a striking golden color with copperish pink highlights and aromas of baked apple, pears and fresh peach with a touch of beeswax.  It is lush, creamy and round in the mouth with baked apple, pear, flavors with subtle notes of lemon peel and vanilla and lively, bright acidity.  The long finish is slightly chewy and slightly, pleasantly bitter.