Lafóa, the highest wine range of the Colterenzio wine production, was created in the late 1980s as part of the quality challenge of the Alto Adige wine industry. Long time before, Colterenzio did years of quality research to prepare it. It started with the analysis of the soils, and the planting of new grape varieties, followed by the quality work in the vineyard and in the wine cellar. “When Colterenzio began a new “Pinot Nero-quality project” 10 years ago, we followed the same premises as for the Lafóa before. We had only one goal in mind: analyze the grape- variety to the smallest detail in order to continuously improve the quality of our best Pinot Neros," says winemaker Martin Lemayr.
The start: selection of the vineyards
The starting point was the same as almost 40 years before: all began with the selection of the vineyards. Six vineyards were identified as the best Pinot Nero vineyards. They are located in Ora (Auer) and in Cornaiano (Girlan). Lemayr explains, "We decided to use the special characteristics of each vineyard to achieve something great. I like to compare it to spices. Each individual component contributes to making a dish taste great as a whole." However, the vineyards have one thing in common: they have the oldest vines among all the properties, aged between 15 and 35 years. High quality is deeply linked to older vines, as they are more balanced, deeper rooted in the soil and are therefore less sensitive to stress. These vines are mostly naturally regulated, the grapegrower needs only to observe it closer and eventually adjust what is missing: "I have to say one thing very clearly," says Lemayr, "in order to produce Pinot Nero of the highest quality, the winegrower has to be an expert, he has to know his vineyard inside out, interpret the signals correctly and carry out the work on time. A Pinot Nero vineyard does not allow mistakes."
What else has Martin Lemayr learned in these 10 years?
"We have made the experience that to produce a top Pinot Nero, we need absolutely fully ripe grapes. Especially with grapes that grow on morainal soils here in Cornaiano (Girlan), we need this very advanced ripeness so that the wine can get expected finesse." Further fine-tuning of recent years is being implemented today: the grapes are cooled down before fermentation to intensify the fruit notes. Part of the grapes is whole-cluster fermented, and this gives the fully ripe grapes the necessary crispness, complexity and freshness. The skin-contact time was extended to enhance the tannins quality. At the end, the winemaker of Colterenzio and his team dedicated their time to the selection of the wooden barrels: individual batches of wine were stored in barriques from different tonellerie and continuously tasted to find out which one suits best. "All these adjustments, however small they may seem, have meant that step by step, year after year, we continuously raised the quality. In the end, the logical consequence was to include this Pinot Nero in our highest line, Lafóa”, explains Lemayr.
What is special about the new Pinot Nero Lafóa?
"First and foremost, it is a very characterful wine," says Martin Lemayr. This is mainly because of the unique combinations of 2 different sites and their soil composition: most of the grapes come from Cornaiano (Girlan), where the soils are morainal of porphyry and dolomite debris. These are combined with grapes from the typical Alto Adige Pinot Nero area above Auer (Ora), the so-called “Kiechlberg”, where we find loamy and calcareous gravelly soil. This part gives the wine the round note. The Pinot Nero Lafóa has a style, very similar to the complexed Pinot Noirs from Burgundy in France. Alex Ferrigato, sales manager of Colterenzio, is very happy about the new Pinot Nero: "This wine absolutely deserves to be included in our top line. When we drink old vintages of Lafóa wines today, we are always pleased and very proud of the work done. They are all very expressive and complex wines with a big longevity. That is because Colterenzio has always believed in the long life of its wines, and even this time, with the new Pinot Nero will not get it wrong." Martin Lemayr agrees with these statements and adds, "In my opinion, a wine does not have to be pleasing at all costs and for all palates. A great wine can have rough edges, showing where it comes from and a strong in character, and definitely be a great wine. This is exactly what our new Pinot Nero Lafóa is, and I am convinced that this wine has a long way to go."
A Pinot Nero for Lafóa
Special wines need time. Sometimes even a decade. That's how long Colterenzio Winery has been working on the "Pinot Nero" project. The result? A powerful, characterful and elegant Alto Adige Pinot Nero. A new Lafóa wine.
