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exploring taste – Spring/Summer 2016

teristic. It was the beginning of a revolution.” as we do with apple trees.”
In the Sixties and Seventies, however, the wine making indus- We ask him to list the requirements for an Alto-Adige wine to
try of Alto-Adige was aiming for quantity rather than quality. excel. “First of all, it has to have a personality; an easy-to-spot
“Luckily in the Eighties many companies started producing character variety. Each wine is the product of its vineyard and
less, but following better agronomic strategies, such as switch- the area it grows on. Our winning profile is a fresh, fruity, fun
ing from pergola to espalier farming. The production was product. Today there is sometimes too much of a sugary res-
reduced to two-thirds of its original volume, and the public idue. Pinot Blanc is the most representative variety we have
rewarded our efforts with an immediate success.” Luis Von here in Alto-Adige, I think, with its apple-y fragrance and
Dellemann himself was the first to have the intuition that white fresh character.”
wine should be aged in barrique, rather than steel. It opened up Finally, Von Dellman touches upon the subject of spumante
a new era in Alto-Adige wine making. production, of which Kettmeir is a regional leader. “In terms
Von Dellman is very passionate about environmental sustain- of bubbles, our region still has a lot to give: the quality of our
ability. “Many winemakers in Alto-Adige are now switching grapes allows us to do so. In Sud Tirol, the tradition of spuman-
from traditional to organic production. I think the future lies te-making goes way back to the end of the 19 Century, but it
th
in organic wine. Our customers request it – not only from a never reached large groups of people. To this day, the compa-
wine making perspective, but for fruit and vegetables too.” An- nies that pursue this angle of the market are still very few. It is
other imminent change is that of the climate: “With tempera- yet another area in which Santa Margherita has set an example
tures rising, we have to plant our vineyards higher and higher, of excellence. But that's not surprising at all.”

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