Alois Lageder Versalto Pinot Bianco 2020
-
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
This wine is a clear, bright straw-yellow color with a green shimmer. Slightly aromatic, fruity (pear, apple, peach) and mineral on the nose. Medium-bodied, quite intense, elegant, linear, fresh, and lively on the palate.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The well-priced Alois Lageder 2020 Pinot Bianco Versalto is a new organic and biodynamic submission (with 13,000 bottles produced). The wine is slightly closed on first nose, but it eventually reveals crisp apple, lychee fruit, honeydew melon and crushed limestone. It delivers high-elevation freshness and crystalline sharpness that reflects these snow-capped mountain surroundings. It is fermented in steel but aged on the lees in both steel and oak. Fruit is sourced across three vineyards: Tirolo (in Merano), Pochi and Penone ranging from 480 and 660 meters in elevation. Best after 2022.
-
James Suckling
The super-flinty nose with a note of grilled lemon pulls you into this light and creamy dry pinot blanc that plows its own furrow. Quite an austere balance, due to the pronounced tannins, then wild-herb character at the very dry finish. Only 11.5% alcohol! From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification. Drink or hold.
Other Vintages
2021-
Wine
Enthusiast
The Alois Lageder winery was established in 1823 and today it is managed by the family’s fifth and sixth generation. The winery is located in Magrè, in the southern part of the Alto Adige region. With a holistic approach, creativity and an experimental spirit Alois Lageder produces wines that reflect the diversity of Alto Adige. We are committed to biodynamic wine production and continually expand our knowledge in this area. In addition to the family owned vineyards (135 acres / 55 hectares) the winery collaborates with around 80 grape growers (247 acres / 100 hectares).
Alois Lageder believes that organic and biodynamic cultivation greatly enriches the landscape. One of the goals of biodynamics is to build a closed farm organism and to increase diversity and fertility. The winery collaborates with mountain farmers who bring their cows and sheep in the winery’s vineyards during the autumn and winter months, following the old tradition of transhumance. This helps to increase the vitality of the grapes and the biodiversity.
A few years ago, Alois Lageder started to cooperate with some local winegrowers from the wider Dolomiti area, which is why Pinot Grigio and Pinot Bianco have the Dolomiti appellation. Today, this collaboration and organic farming are met with enormous interest allowing us to expand this project giving the wines their own name: Terra Alpina. The Terra Alpina wines are characterized by a unique interplay of harsh Alpine and sunny Mediterranean influences.
Approachable, aromatic and pleasantly plush on the palate, Pinot Blanc is a white grape variety most associated with the Alsace region of France. Although its heritage is Burgundian, today it is rarely found there and instead thrives throughout central Europe, namely Germany and Austria, where it is known as Weissburgunder and Alto Adige where it is called Pinot Bianco. Interestingly, Pinot Blanc was born out of a mutation of the pink-skinned Pinot Gris. Somm Secret—Chardonnay fans looking to try something new would benefit from giving Pinot Blanc a try.
A mountainous northern Italian region heavily influenced by German culture, Trentino-Alto Adige is actually made up of two separate but similar regions: Alto Adige and Trentino.
Trentino, the southern half, is primarily Italian-speaking and largely responsible for the production of non-native, international grapes. There is a significant quantity of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Merlot produced. But Trentino's native and most unique red variety, Teroldego, while still rare, is gaining popularity. It produces a deeply colored red wine rich in wild blackberry, herb, coffee and cocoa.
The rugged terrain of German-speaking Alto Adige (also referred to as Südtirol) focuses on small-scale viticulture, with great value placed on local varieties—though international varieties have been widely planted since the 1800s. Sheltered by the Alps from harsh northerly winds, many of the best vineyards are at extreme altitude but on steep slopes to increase sunlight exposure.
Dominant red varieties include the bold, herbaceous Lagrein and delicate, strawberry-kissed, Schiava, in addition to some Pinot Nero.
The primary white grapes are Pinot grigio, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay and Pinot blanc, as well as smaller plantings of Sauvignon blanc, Müller Thurgau. These tend to be bright and refreshing with crisp acidity and just the right amount of texture. Some of the highest quality Pinot grigio in Italy is made here.