Fresh, breezy Schiava caught my attention on a recent trip to the small mountainous region of Alto Adige in northern Italy. Put aside memories of lamentable mass-market Schiava from the 1980s: among the 40 or so Schiava I tasted at the Alto Adige Wine Summit, I’d give fridge room to 30, a higher proportion than for any other variety at the Summit, and the DOC permits 20. Lagrein was not as consistent. Nevertheless, this piece focuses on Alto Adige’s indigenous red duo.
The quality of Schiava (AKA Vernatsch) has improved in reverse proportion to planting. In 1970, it accounted for 69% of the Alto Adige vineyard; today that has contracted to just 9%. Production is now focused on the DOCs of Lago di Caldaro, Santa Maddalena, and Meranese in Merano. On sunny slopes between 300–700m (980– 2,300ft) with a strong diurnal to preserve its modest acidity, Schiava can produce light-bodied alpine reds with 11-12.5%. These are reds masquerading as whites and so refreshing when chilled.
Some of the most charming Schiava comes from the dolomitic soils around Lake Caldero, with the wines offering enticing raspberry and redcurrant fruit with a whisper of tannin, be it light and crunchy or soft and silky. Examples include pretty DOC Kalterersee Classico Superiore Schiava from Tenuta Ritterhof (Novis 2024); and a light and floral 2024 from Ignaz Niedrist; abundantly aromatic, feather-light Römigberg Schiava from Alois Ladeger 2023; while Erste+Neue Puntay 2023 is generous. Puntay is this cooperative’s top range, and a reminder that not to dismiss Alto Adige’s cooperatives, which are among the best in Italy. The majority of the region’s 4,800 growers cultivate on average just one hectare (2.4 acres) and sell to them.
Schiava seems more herbal and crunchier from the sandy soils of Meranese DOC. There’s a bright and snappy Meraner Fürst 2022 from Cantina Merano, another cooperative. There are only 326 wineries in this region of 5,850ha (14,455 acres). And as an aside, while we’re discussing numbers, 96% of Alto Adige’s total production is DOC.
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Producers in Santa Maddalena DOC have always taken Schiava seriously, forming the first consortium in Italy in 1923. Santa Maddalena’s porphyry slopes, surrounding the town of Bolzano, are high in iron and silica. Here Schiava is bright and morello cherry-fresh with a touch more grip.
It notches up structure and body in the 160ha (400 acres) Classico section which cloaks a rippling south-southeast-facing slope, where vineyards rise steeply from 300–700m (980– 2,300ft) and pergolas are perched on terraces. Several growers have sold wine under their own name for 200 years, which established and maintained a reputation for quality. I liked the crunchy sweet-cherry Glögglhof Vigna Rondell 2023 and the lithe and slim 2022 from Tenuta Eberlehof. Untermoserhof’s supple Vigna Hub & Leith 2023 was the silkiest I tried.
A light touch is required, since it’s traditional here to co-plant with Lagrein which can overpower Schiava’s delicate fruit and texture. Lagrein takes longer to reach phenolic ripeness, but the varieties are harvested together as DOC rules stipulate co-fermentation. Maybe it’s waiting for Lagrein that gives some Santa Maddalena Classico DOC their darker, almost jammy, fruit. Tannins can be rather rugged, albeit most of the 35 producers use less than half the 15% Lagrein permitted.
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Third-generation wine producer Hannes Rottensteiner hangs his hat on the two indigenous varieties. His wife Judith comments, “The Alto Adige is turning to white varieties, but Bolzano has always been a red wine town.” Judith and I climbed up Premstallerhof, a large 4.5ha (11 acres) parcel of Santa Maddalena Classico located between 400–500m (1,310–1,640ft). It’s on a long-term contract, managed and certified biodynamic. Up close and personal, Schiava has large, thin-skinned berries and compact bunches, attributes that are somewhat hazardous in the humidity of a pergola. Just days before harvest, Schiava showed typical low acidity and tannin. So tasty it could be a table grape.
Rottensteiner Vigna Premstallerhof is quite firmly structured since it includes 7% Lagrein, but Hannes hates green tannins, so he waits to harvest and the texture is silky. 2024 is juicy, fresh, and earthy with bitter cherry and slight grip. It’s matured equally in stainless steel and 80hl (2,110 US gallons) foudres. Among a vertical of six vintages, my favourite was the floral and silky 2021, which was a cooler vintage and is on point now, while the gravelly, coffee-and-dried cherry-scented 2011 was hanging on. Seemingly the best Santa Maddalena Classico benefit from 3–5 years of bottle age.
Lagrein: Lying low
Down from the slopes, Lagrein thrives in low-lying vineyards in deep, fertile alluvial soil and notably those of the Bolzano basin. It demands heat and water a (fun and perhaps slightly surprising fact: Bolzano is among the hottest cities in Italy). It’s acknowledged that Vigna Gries—which is half-engulfed by the city and which has deep, sandy porphyry soil—is the top spot for Lagrein, and the nearer the monastery of Muri-Gries the better. In 2024 the Alto Adige DOC ratified 89 UGAs, among them Gries and Gries-Moritzing.
Lagrein may well have died out if it hadn’t been for the efforts of Bolzano producers Rottensteiner, Cantina Convento Muri-Gries, and Cantina Bozen (the Bolzano cooperative). Documented as the oldest variety in the region, Lagrien, which was used for rosé and to bolster Schiava, has been re-positioned as Alto Adige’s noble indigenous grape. Tasting more than 40 samples, I’d say Lagrein may like it in town, but is more of a country cousin.
Lagrein is soft, fullish and chunky; there’s forest fruit, dark chocolate, and often a bit of spiciness, which may come from the barriques in which it’s typically matured. The tannins can be velvety, but many showed rusticity and/or greenness. Trained on pergola, Lagrein can churn a mighty 25 tonnes a hectare, but cropped too low, coarse tannin dominates.
“It’s a punk,” says Hannes Rottensteiner who vats for just 14 days and matures only free-run wine in 225-litre barrels for ten months with stainless steel for a further year, thus refining the tannin for his Lagrein Riserva Select. 2022 is rich with tannic matter, but smooth and supple. There is no tradition of bottle-aging Lagrein, but a vertical back to 2014 demonstrated mid-term aging potential despite its high pH. Rottensteiner’s Trignon, a glossy super-selection, launched with the 2022 vintage, should evolve beneficially over ten years.
Other producers who have successfully polished Lagrein’s country manners include Glögglhof with a punchy exotic 2023 Riserva; a vigorous muscular Riserva Gries 2022 from Cantina Colterenzio; dense and spicy Riserva Puntay 2022 Erste+Neue; Convento Muri-Gries’s compact yet succulent Abtei Muri 2022 and peppery Vigna Klosteranger 2021; a brushed-suede Gran Helen 2021 from Fliederhof Weinmanufaktur; Black cherry, rich and smoothly textured 2018 Riserva from Eberlehof. While Lindenburg 2021 from Alois Lageder is unusually light, fresh and digestible at 12%. Forest fruit earthiness, plump and smoothly textured.
Also a departure from the Bolzano style is Elena Walch’s Lagrein Riserva Vigna Castel Ringberg 2022 which has juicy, splashing blueberry-ripe fruit, lighter tannin and a salty finish. In Castel Ringberg, a twenty hectare east/south-east facing vineyard close to Lake Caldero, I also tasted Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Chardonnay from the dolomite and gravel soils, all of which expressed a strong vineyard identity. Ripe upfront with tension mid palate and a salty finish.
No one doubts that the Alto Adige produces serious whites. Admittedly the indigenous red duo are not as fine, but they capture the spirit of this mountainous region. Bold Lagrein is a winter warmer, while airy Schiava most eloquently expresses alpine freshness.
