Alto Adige/Südtirol is Italy’s northernmost and smallest wine producing region accounting for less than 1% of Italy’s vast winegrowing areas. Yet despite being a dot on the map nestled in the mountains, Alto Adige/Südtirol is a giant in the wine world.
In recent decades, consumer demand worldwide has steadily grown for Alto Adige/Südtirol’s wines, which have a reputation for diversity and quality second to none in Italy’s top regions. Castelfeder Winery, a family-run operation, epitomizes this dedication to producing high-quality Alto Adige/Südtirol wines with distinctive character.
The family operates out of Neumarkt/Egna, a charming medieval market village whose dual name demonstrates the heady blend of Germanic and Northern Italian cultures that exist in Alto Adige/Südtirol. The region, up against Austria’s southern border, is officially trilingual, with many residents speaking English, German, and Italian in Bolzano, the region’s beautiful capital city.
Günther Giovanett took over winery duties at Castelfeder in 1989. Today, he works as CEO alongside his wife and CFO, Sandra. Their son, Ivan Giovanett, serves as winemaker and director of viticulture. Daughter Ines Giovanett is director of worldwide sales, marketing and purchasing.
Despite the titles, Ines says they all still get their hands dirty in the business.
“I grew up when the winery was much smaller — just my parents and two employees,” Ines recalls. “Today it takes all four us and lots of demanding work with our employees to run the business. We are all hands-on as needed.”
While Ines and her family put in the effort to move forward and grow, her great-grandfather faced quite different circumstances at Castelfeder’s beginnings.
Alto Adige/Südtirol emerges
When Ines’ great-grandfather arrived in the area, he worked for a cooper making large barrels for transporting wines. Her grandfather, Alfons, also trained at Alois Lageder, a renowned winery.
Back then and just like today, thousands of small family farms with average holdings of 2½ acres own Alto Adige/Südtirol’s vineyards. This fractured ownership lent itself naturally to diversity and the production of wines of widely varying quality.
For most of the 20th century, the region’s traditional connections to Austria and Germany created highest demand for the region’s wines in Germanic countries. Those drinkers demanded inexpensive, easy-drinking light red wines with a touch of roundness and sweetness. Area growers responded by mass-producing wines made primarily from Schiava grapes.
But as Ines notes, a major scandal in Austrian wine changed everything in 1985: Austrian wine producers were adulterating inexpensive wines with diethylene glycol, a colorless, odorless compound commonly used as a solvent in antifreeze and paint thinner.
Adding DEG had the desired effect of pumping up inexpensive wines, but it can also lead to necrosis of the liver and neuron damage resulting in paralysis and death, according to the National Institutes of Health.
The Austrian wine scandal caused the bottom to fall out of demand for Alto Adige/Südtirol’s inexpensive, bulk red wines.
Before the scandal struck in 1985, Giovanett’s grandfather had founded Castelfeder Winery in 1969 to begin bottling their own wines rather than just selling in bulk. When her father, Günther, took the reins in 1989, he continued the emphasis on domaine bottling (bottling the wine where the grapes are grown).
Unique terroir
Günther also focused more intently on understanding Alto Adige/Südtirol’s many microclimates, soils and geology. This simple idea was to make sure to plant each grape variety in the terroir best suited to producing high quality fruit.
To appreciate the magnitude of the challenge, it helps to envision Alto Adige/Südtirol’s geography.
It’s comprised of a large north-to-south river valley surrounded by sheer alpine mountains to the east, west and north. The surrounding slopes capture heat and sunshine, resulting in a mild Mediterranean climate on the valley floor and initial gentle hills around 600 feet above sea level. Further up the slopes, where vineyards can be found up to 3,000 feet above sea level, the climate is drier and distinctly cooler.
The entire region benefits from significant differences between nighttime and daytime temperatures. The situation naturally regulates the ripening of the fruit, allowing grapes to retain a fine balance between fresh acidity and fruity flavors.
Ines points out that the region’s diverse microclimates allow Alto Adige/Südtirol’s growers to plant up to 13 diverse varieties of white- and red-skinned grapes. The core varieties, however, are Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio for white wines and Pinot Noir, Lagrein and Shiava for red wines.
“My grandfather and my parents realized that Alto Adige/Südtirol’s diversity is a strength and opportunity to make quality wines from good vineyards,” Ines notes. “We started with around 20 acres of vines in 1969, then around 50 acres when my dad stepped up in 1989. By 2006, we managed 110 acres. And, today, we are over 220 acres.”
The following wines offer an excellent introduction to the pleasures and quality of Castelfeder’s offerings. Each wine reflects the unique character of Alto Aidge/Südtirol, itself: fine precision walking comfortably with more relaxed pleasure to create wines meant for enjoyment with food and friends.
Pinot nero
At Castelfeder, Pinot Nero — Italian for Pinot Noir — holds a place of simple attention and emphasis on quality. Alfons Giovanett, Ines’s grandfather, already recognized Glen Vineyard as an ideal place to grow the finnicky grape.
The vineyard sits mid-slope on the western side of the valley between 1,475 feet and 2,600 feet above sea level. It faces south and west and enjoys perfect afternoon sunshine. The soils blend limestone, a classic soil for Pinot Noir, with loam and porphyry, a hard, dark-red and purple rock formed from cooling volcanic magma.
Combined with the wide spans in diurnal temperatures, this creates ideal conditions for growing grapes for the 2021 Castelfeder, Pinot Nero “Glen,” Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy (available nationally for around $36, according to wine-searcher.com).
After harvesting the grapes by hand (all grapes in Alto Adige/Südtirol are picked by hand, according to Ines Giovanett), fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled, stainless-steel tanks. The aging process continues in oak barriques of various ages.
Elegance and balance characterize Castelfeder’s Glen pinot nero.
“The wine is not overly extracted,” Ines notes. “But it has enough acidity and good structure to age easily in the bottle for five or six years.”
It drinks well now, too. On the nose, aromas of ripe blackberries and raspberries prevail with subtle spicy, toasty notes. On the palate, refreshing red fruit flavors balance with zesty acidity, medium concentration and refined, elegant tannins. Serve it with grilled steaks and hamburgers.
Schiava aka vernatsch
The 2023 Castelfeder, Schiava “Alte Reben,” Alto Adige /Südtirol, Italy ($37 at Solera Wine Co. in Lawrenceville) remains an important offering for the winery. The wine comes from vines up to 80 years old, many of them growing big bunches of Schiava/Vernatsch grapes on distinctive pergola trellises. The wine ferments and matures in stainless-steel tanks, so oak does not interfere with the fruit.
“This is an easy-drinking red, less complex than pinor noir and no hard tannins,” Ines notes.
Indeed, on the palate, soft red cherry and bright acidity frame the soft, fruit finish. The wine matches beautifully with speck, a smoked ham native to Alto Adige/Südtirol’s family-owned mountain farms. Try the wine with dates stuffed with speck and stuffed blue cheese, a tasty tidbit served at Solera Wine Co.
Pinot grigio, with a twist
The 2023 Castelfeder, “15: Pinot Grigio, Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy (around $36 nationally, according to wine-searcher.com) is the antithesis of watery, cheap Italian pinot grigios flooding the market.
“The PG 15 is a selected vineyard that has been in our family for a long time,” Ines notes. “It is in Alto Adige’s most important pinot grigio area … with special limestone soil.”
The wine is fermented in stainless-steel tanks to capture freshness. It’s also aged in stainless-steel tanks with the lees (i.e. spent yeast cells) that convey noticeable richness to the final wine.
On the nose, citrus and apple fruit layer with subtle floral notes. On the palate, ripe, rich citrus flavors — grapefruit and tangerine — with pleasant quince notes blend with vibrant freshness and a touch of creaminess through a medium-bodied, dry finish. Serve it with cheese and sausage boards.
Cheers!