wine setting #26
edit by Laura Riolfatto
During my wanderings, aimed at increasing my knowledge about small canteens from Alto Adige, I discovered a generation of young wine-makers who, with great passion and enthusiasm, are researching ways to make a step forward from the conventional wine-making tradition. Their projects are based on a lot of study, practical experiences carried out abroad, hard work in their vines, and a lot of experimenting, aimed at obtaining wines that are ever deeper, more expressive and sustainable, able to tell through their taste the versatility of a territory and its ever evolving cultural changes.
This is the case of Tenuta Röck in Villandro, a small family canteen located at 700 meters in the mountains of the Isarco Valley, surrounded by amazing views and steep terraced vines. A true wonder, with an incredibly suggestive panorama where, as they say, at dawn the vines look towards the Plose mountain, overlooking Bressanone.
Behind each wine there is a story of human beings to be told, it may seem obvious, but it is not. Behind the Rock canteen there is the story of a family, in which each member has a role and are guided by the same life philosophy.
Konrad, the father, wine-maker and distiller, started the company twenty years ago and over time has embraced changes to achieve an increasingly organic and sustainable viticulture, also thanks to the support and the project of his son and daughter. Frieda, the mother, is in charge of the hospitality, she's an excellent chef and continues a local tradition during the period of the Törggele.
Hannes is the son, wine-maker who in addition to wine also enjoys producing fermented drinks such kombucha, koji and beer.
Carmen, the daughter, is a wine-maker and expert sommelier, yoga teacher and passionate sourdough bread baker.
I met Carmen on a sunny and very hot April afternoon, under a sky full of big white clouds, which were guarding the mountains below. We had a nice chat: she told me about the evolution of the project of the canteen, and we tasted some of their wines together.
She and her brother Hannes, after completing their studies and once back home after having traveled to Vienna, Seul and through the American continent, felt the need to work the vines in a more sustainable way. They are moving towards a production of natural wine, with organic methods as their starting point and reference, and intervene the least possible.
"Less is more" is their motto, applied in the vines, in the canteen and in life.This means working daily in close contact with nature, ongoing work in the vine to make sure everything flows and that the grapes are healthy. In the canteen, they only carry out spontaneous fermentations, with no additives and no filtering, preferring larger wooden barrels, so that the wine is in contact with a natural material. For Hannes and Carmen the wine has to follow its own path and develop its own soul, the work of men must not be predominant and should only be aimed at monitoring the good state of things. Currently , there is greater attention to what we eat and drink, and for them it is important to offer natural wines, with the word natural referring to a healthy, additive-free product.
Their mountain wines are simple, authentic and give emotions. In almost 3 hectares of land they grow vines traditional of their territory and the Isarco Valley: Sylvaner, Gewürztraminer, Grüner Veltliner, Riesling, Müller-Thurgau, Pinot Noir and Rotburger; their sustainability project is also making them experiment with grapes like PIWI, which they consider the future of the company.
viel anders in German means very different.
This wine immediately caught my attention, I am a great fan of white macerated wines and this symphony between Gewürztraminer and Sylvaner is spectacular. At sight, the wine shines like a gold leaf and the delicate aromas are so wonderful that I connected them to a bouquet of peonies, as they reminded me of their perfume. The perfumes also recall tropical fruits like mango, papaya and sweet spices like cardamom and star anise; perfume complexity and softness make it a unique wine, its taste is juicy and persistent, with a surprising freshness. The disruptive aroma of the Gewürztraminer, main component of the wine, is made milder by the freshness of the Sylvaner and the maceration on the skins, making it very pleasant and particularly scented, elegant and balanced.
I decided to pair viel anders with a curried salmon filet and a basil purée. I aromatized the oil with the herbs of my garden: lemon balm, mint, fennel, thyme, oregano, marjoram, basil and chives, which I left macerating for a day in the e.v.o.oil with a little bit of curry. The potato and basil purée is very easy to prepare, I mashed the potatoes and worked them with a small batch of fresh basil. Perfumes, flavours, moisture, texture, sweetness and aroma perfectly blended together, creating a great symphony between wine and food.
viel anders is a white wine macerated on the skins. The Gewürztraminer and Sylvaner vines are about 20 years old and face south east on steep hills. The grapes were picked by hand on the 18th of September 2020 , the fermentation was spontaneous and took place in steel tanks and the contact with the skins lasted one week. The aging in big wooden barrels lasted 20 months after which the wine was bottled with no filtering in August 2022.
2020 is the second year of production of this great wine!!!
