Take just a sip or two of Clemens Lageder’s most recent delicious whites from Alois Lageder Winery, and there’s no mistaking the young winegrower’s commitment to offering distinctive, naturally fresh wines with dazzling purity. Yet as global temperatures rise each year, Lageder takes nothing for granted. Mounting challenges hinder the winery’s quest for freshness, and Clemens recognizes the need for continual experimentation and change going forward both in the vineyards and the cellar.
In 2015 Clemens returned to the family estate in Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy’s northern most wine region. Since then, he has embraced a lead role in building on and adapting his parents’ legacy of organic and biodynamic wines with an international reputation for excellence. While growing up in the small winegrowing village of Magrè, however, Clemens felt no pressure to join the family business.
“My parents always told my two sisters and me to do what we wanted to do professionally,” Clemens recalls. “I am grateful that my parents gave us freedom and space and did not create pressure to manage the family wine business. We chose freely and were never forced. This was extremely important and has a huge impact on how we manage the business after eventually deciding to return.”
Living away from the domaine for ten years, he first studied sociology in Zurich, before working for the domaine’s Swiss importer. He also worked at Alois Lageder’s New York importer.
“This renewed my passion for learning about winegrowing, so I enrolled at the oenology school in Geisenheim, Germany,” Clemens says. “Then I did an exchange year in Burgundy and had an internship with Guillaume d’Angerville at Domaine Marquis d’Angerville in Volnay. Incredible vineyards, mamma mia.”
SEEING HOME VINEYARDS IN NEW LIGHT
Lageder’s eyes opened to the broader world. He also saw more clearly the possibilities and challenges of producing terrific wines while returning to Alto Adige/Südtirol.
“Because this is a somewhat isolated, small region surrounded by beautiful mountains, it’s kind of like living on an island,” Clemens notes. “Living away for years made me appreciate and look at it in a whole new way. I still enjoy traveling from time to time as part of my job, but the time I spend here is marvelous and fantastic.”
Working with his parents and sisters as a family managing the domaine also has its rewards, according to Clemens.
“It permits you to put your personality into your daily work in the vineyard, in the cellar and in sales,” he says. “From beginning of production through to the end with the final consumers, you can apply your personal beliefs and philosophy. For me this is the most interesting thing. And in our case the philosophy happens to be influenced by biodynamic principles from the philosopher, Rudolph Steiner.”
BIODYNAMICS AND THE LAGEDER ESTATE
Clemens’ father, Alois Legader, grew up seeing his mother applying Steiner’s biodynamic ideas in cultivating the family garden. This entailed using only natural treatments on the plants instead of chemicals. Alois pondered applying Steiner’s ideas to the Lageder family wine business which began in the 1823.
But when Alois Lageder at age 25 entered the business in the 1970’s, he inherited an economic model producing quantity over quality. According to Clemens, it took Alois over thirty years until 2004 to apply biodynamic principles fully in the domaine’s 135 acres of vineyards. Today Clemens embraces the biodynamic approach while developing his own interpretations.
“Biodynamics opens your horizons because it makes you look at the vineyards from many different perspectives. You deal with challenges by understanding them,” he says. “You must observe the vineyards carefully to try to understand how to make things better rather than just reacting by jumping on a tractor and spraying herbicides, fungicides and pesticides on the vines.”
Clemens concedes his father’s more thorough grasp of biodynamic theories on lunar cycles and natural preparations applied to the vines. Even so, the younger Lageder remains convinced of biodynamics’ practical benefits.
“I can only speak of our vineyards, but biodynamics is a lot about breaking up the vineyard monocultures by bringing in sheep and cows for natural fertilizers. Then we also apply the other natural biodynamic preparations to the vines,” he says. “This strengthens the vines and microorganisms in the soils. It also has a positive impact on the social and collaborative aspects of winegrowing. So for me biodynamics is a way to farm the land and vineyards in a very healthy way that considers the entire organism in a holistic, 360 degree perspective.”
THE DIVERSITY OF ALTO ADIGE/SÜDTIROL
Alto Adige/Südtirol’s incredible diversity provides another source of inspiration for Lageder’s winegrowing approach.
“Here we have cultural diversity with Italian and Austrian influences, geological diversity with limestone, volcanic and many other rock types, and vertical diversity ranging from the valley floor to extreme heights,” Clemens says. “We take advantage of the diversity by having between 25 and 30 grape varieties, and we work to find just the right spot to grow each variety.”
To work with the entire range of diverse varieties, the Lageder family supplements its own estate grown grapes by collaborating with and purchasing fruit from 80 grapegrowing partners representing another 230 acres of vines.
“Our partners know much more about their land than we do. Slowly we have encouraged and educated them to convert to organic and biodynamic grapegrowing, and so far over 50 percent have collaborated,” he says. “Ideally we hope by 2023–our estate’s 200th anniversary–to have all our partners to at least begin the conversion process.”
2018 ALOIS LAGEDER MÜLLER-THURGAU
Grapes for the delicious 2018 Alois Lageder, Müller-Thurgau, Valle Isarco Alto Adige/Südtirol (average U.S. national retail price $15) come from six partners with steep, high-altitude vineyards in the beautiful, narrow gorge of the Isarco River Valley.
“This little valley has Alto-Adige’s only true cool climate subregion, which is perfect for Müller-Thurgau,” Clemens says.”The rest of Alto-Adige has an increasingly warm, sometimes brutally warm, climate similar to the Mediterranean.”
Lageder also credits the Isarco Valley’s diverse geology including schist and volcanic rocks with allowing the Müller-Thurgau grapes to retain the tension and freshness that makes the wine so delightful. The wine’s lime, grapefruit and floral aromas lead to ripe blood orange, grapefruit and quince flavors. It finishes crisp and fruity, yet completely dry.
2017 ALOIS LEGADER MANZONI BIANCO
Clemens’s 2017 “Fórra” Manzoni Bianco, Vigneti delle Dolomiti I.G.T. (average national retail price $29 in the U.S.) comes from Demeter certified Manzoni Bianco estate grapes. Demeter International is a widely recognized organization certifying compliance with international standards in biodynamic production and processing. In response to anticipated warming climate trends, Professor Luigi Manzoni used a hybrid cross between Riesling and Pinot Bianco grapes to create Manzoni Bianco,.
“We always harvest Manzoni Bianco last, and it still delivers the freshness of Pinot Bianco and the pure, complex aromas of Riesling,” Clemens notes. “We ferment the grapes as whole clusters for ten days in large casks and then rack the juice with the fine lees for aging in large casks before bottling.”
The whole cluster fermentation and aging on the lees (i.e., the clean portion of spent yeast cells) give the wine added aromatic complexity, round texture and a touch of creaminess. A relatively low yield (of 31 hl./h) also contributes to the wine’s concentration. It opens with an intense golden color offering peach and lime aromas. Delicious, medium-bodied quince and citrus flavors follow with pronounced fresh acidity and a dry finish with bright fruitiness.
2018 ALOIS LAGEDER “PORER” PINOT GRIGIO
The 2018 Alois Lageder, “Porer” Pinot Grigio, Alto Adige/Südtirol (average U.S. national retail price $26; Saratoga Wione Exchange: $23.94) shows how much quality is possible with Pinot Grigio. Other producers often over crop Pinot Grigio and turn out oceans of insipid, flabby and essentially uninteresting white wines. Not so with Clemens Lageder and company.
“With Pinot Grigo today it’s no longer a case of whether the grapes will ripen as it was 15 and 20 years ago,” he says. “Rather it a question of how to maintain acidity for freshness”
Faced with this new challenge, Lageder experiments with mixing the components of the wine to increase perceptions of freshness in the glass.
“For us the wine is the sum of many components. So here we harvest some of the Pinot Grigio plots a little earlier, for example, for more freshness. But the most important components for our Porer Pinot Grgio come with how we vinify the grapes,” Clemens notes.
One third of the Demeter certified grapes are pressed immediately after harvest at the estate then allowed to ferment spontaneously in stainless steel tanks. Aging on the fine lees then occurs for eight months.
Another third of the grapes are kept on the skins for 15 hours before pressing. Then spontaneous fermentation occurs before aging on the fine lees in large wooden casks.
Finally the last third of the grapes ferment and age on the grape skins and stems for about one year in a large wooden casks.
“The contact of the grape juice with the tannins of the skins and stems gives a natural way to increase the perception of freshness,” Clemens says. “It’s a way to adapt to warm vintages. As warmer years occur, we might even increase the amounts of whole clusters with the skins and stems. We can increase the freshness without opening a bag of acid and pouring it into the wine.”
This wine’s delicate, pale orange color offers pure peach and floral aromas. Fresh peach, pear and citrus flavors follow balanced by bright acidity and a seamless, creamy texture. The long, fresh and fruity finish provides a fitting dry conclusion for a lovely wine.
LOOKING FORWARD
Given Clemens Lageder’s intelligent, thoughtful approach and his commitment to healthy, holistic winegrowing in a rapidly changing climate, it’s a smart bet to continue looking to Alois Lageder Winery for naturally delicious, intriguing wines from Alto Adige/Südtirol. The admirable attention to details in the Lageder family estate vineyards and winery combined with the collaborative work with 80 partner winegrowers provides a solid foundation for excellence now and moving into the future.
Have you tasted Alois Lagder Estate wines? How about other wines from Alto Adige/Südtirol? Share your comments below and cheers!