by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

Today Bruce&Sue Noel/ Jim&Sylvia Crain hosted a tasting of AltoAdige wines, some of which they'd recently brought back from the region:

1. Elena Walch Kastelaz (14%) Gewurztraminer AltoAdige 2000: Pale gold color; beautiful/ fragrant very spicy GWT/lychee nose; tart/dry fairly austere/rich strong lychee/GWT/spicy clean/bright slight stoney flavor; very long strong lychee/GWT austere finish; lovely intense totally DRY GWT; much in the Trimbach style, very refreshing style from a Z-H.
2. Kellerei St.Pauls di Vinus Chardonnay dell'AltoAdige (13%) 1999: Med.yellow color; rather fragrant/oaked light pineapply/appley rather earthy/dusty nose; very tart/lean some earthy/ metallic hard/austyere clean appley flavor; med.short tart/lean/austere rather earthy/appley finish; needs some age; very austere/hard Chard; according to Bruce, this wine never saw any oak, but it sure smelled of oak to me.
3. Kellerei St.Pauls Biker-Wein (12.5%) Weissburgunder/PinotBianco 2001: Pale yellow color; fragrant bit herbal/SB-like light figgy some earthy/minerally nose; tart/lean bit metallic/ earthy low fruit slight appley flavor; med.short lean/austere earthy/stoney/minerally finish w/ little fruit.
4. St. Pauls Exclusiv "Egg Leiten" PinotGrigio (14.00%) 2001: Pale gold color; some fragrant/ floral/honeysuckle rather earthy/stoney nose; softer some stoney/metallic/earthy lightly honeysuckle/flor/perfumed flavor; med.long earthy/stoney lightly floral finish; plenty of acidity and needs some age; attractive ethereal white for a PG.
5. St. Pauls Exclusiv "Plotzner" Pinot Bianco/Weissburgunder (13.5%) 2001: Pale yellow color; fragrant earthy/stoney almost herbal/SB-like/figgy/waxy slight floral nose; tart/lean earthy/ stoney austere light floral/waxy flavor; med. hard/austere stoney/earthy light floral/figgy finish; not a lot of character and hard/austere on the palate.
6. Alois Lageder Pinot Bianco/Weissburgunder (12.5%) 2000: Pale yellow color; much more fragrant/ perfumed/floral some SB-like/herbal nose; softer/rounder some lush earthy/stoney bit citric/ appley/floral flavor; med. softer earthy/stoney light herbal/figgy/appley finish; pleasant drinking white.
7. St. Pauls di Vinus PinotNero/Blauburgunder (14.0%) 2000: Med.dark bit browning color; very earthy/Burgundian little fruit slight floral/lilacs some toasty/charred/oak nose; tart earthy/ dusty rather tobaccoy/pungent/charred/oak slight floral/lilacs/violets mushroomy flavor; med. long rather earthy/dusty Burgundian/tobaccoy/charred slight floral/tarry finish w/ some tannins; needs a bit of age yet; lots of toasty/oak/Burgundy character.
8. St. Pauls Exclusiv Lagrein Gries (13.5%) 1999: Very dark color; intense grapey/perfumed very floral/tarry some earthy nose; rather tart/tannic very floral/lilacs/violets perfumed/earthy somewhat rough/rustic flavor; very long earthy/grapey floral/tarry/violets finish w/ fair tannins; needs some age; very interesting/intriguing red.
9. St. Pauls Sudtiroller Merlot Dell'AltoAdige (13.5%) 1999: Very dark color; very strong grapey/ earthy/pungent/smokey dusty/licorice/pungent/blackberry complex nose; tart earthy/dusty rather grapey/blackberry/licorice/pungent/tarry smokey flavor; med.long hard/tannic very grapey/ licorice/pungent/blackberry finish; needs several yrs of age; Halleaujaih, a Merlot that has some character.
10. Falesco Umbria Merlot IGT (13.5%) 2000: Black color; very strong grapey/licorice/pungent very blackberry rather toasty/pungent/Fr.oaked/international-style nose; tart/hard/tannic very pungent/licorice/smokey grapey/tarry toasty/Fr.oak flavor; fairly long/hard grapey/licorice pungent very toasty/Fr.oak finish; needs some age; very international in style; pretty tasty red wine if a bit oaked.
11. St. Pauls Biker-Wein Lagrein Dunkel (12.5%) Very dark color; bit gunpowder/pungent intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah-like/Thompson-peppery some toasty/Fr.oak complex nose; tart/hard/ tannic very strong blackberry/boysenberry/licorice pungent/Fr.oak/toasty some earthy/dusty flavor; very long boysenberry/blackberry/licorice pungent/toasty/oak fairly tannic finish; needs some age; terrific wine for a cheapie; much like a Jaffurs Thompson Syrah.
12. St. Pauls Lagrein Dunkel Dell'AltoAdige Riserva (13.5%) 1999: Very dark/black color; intense blackberry/blueberry/boysenberry slight volatile/aromatic rather toasty/Fr.oak/pungent some earthy/licorice complex nose; soft/lush rich/mouthfilling intense blackberry/boysenberry/ blueberry some tarry/licorice/pungent some toasty/Fr.oak flavor; soft/rich/ripe very long intense blackberry/boysenberry/grapey toasty/Fr.oak finish; loads of Syrah-like fruit but needs some age; terrific red.

1. The Kellerei St.Pauls is a cooperative in the AltoAdige. Bruce&Sue were sufficiently impressed with the wines that they are considering importing them into this country. The Biker-Wein is a whimisically labeled wine with a funky drawing of a biker dude on the label, priced cheap to sell. The "di Vinus" series of wines are their basic grade of wines. The "Exclusiv" label of wines are their top-end varietals from specific Vineyards or villages in the AltoAdige. In general, I thought their wines pretty good quality across the board.
2. Pinot Grigio: I can't for the life of me figure out what the interest in this grape is all about. In Alsace, it makes stunning/world-class wines. In Italy/Calif/Oregon, it makes decidely ordinary/dull wines, at best, simple & pleasant quaffers. I've yet to see any signs of greatness for the variety, outside of Alsace.
3. The Whites: All the whites had a distinct earthy minerality to them and a lean austerity on the palate. All pretty interesting wines designed to go with food. Surely hope they are able to resist the embracing of the international/Parker whoreing-up of their wines.
4. Lagrein: I've only had some half dozen Lagreins over the yrs, never this many side-by-side. It's a variety that cries out to be pursued in California. It seems to have an intense grapiness to it w/ a beautiful floral/tarry component and a distinct terroir/earthiness. It reminds me some of Friuli Refosco, some of Savoie Mondeuse, a bit like Mourvedre, a lot of Valtelline Sfursat. I've not yet tried the Mosby or Chris Whitcraft versions. It ain't going to be the next Syrah or Merlot (thank gawd), but it seems to have a lot on interesting characater.