Castel Juval's breathtaking Alto Adige wines
Castel Juval Unterortl's vineyards were started by mountain climbing legend Reinhold Messner in 1992 as part of his 13th century castle estate.
I have a fear of heights, and, perhaps a less common phobia: a fear of wines from Italy's Alto Adige region. Phobia might be a little strong, but I certainly get apprehensive when presented with wines from Italy's German speaking stronghold. Not surprisingly, many of the region's wines suffer from some of the sterility and technical heavy-handedness that plagues many middling German and Austrian wines. Lots of sulfur, screw caps, stainless steel, and seriousness.
So my first reaction to seeing Castel Juval's bottles was of the "back away slowly" variety. However, that's why we taste, and I was wrong. These wines were serious, had screw caps instead of corks, were aged in steel tank, and had sulfur. But they were also captivating and delicious. Why?
Many know that I am a Riesling nut and would never sign off on anything that didn't meet my high standards. Plus, I am an acid freak. The Riesling here absolutely lit me up with it's exciting bite, and it's been three or four vintages since I first tried them, each one delivering a glacial, mineral backbone. The Pinot Nero is similarly remarkable, and both tell the story of the extreme place where they are grown.
The Unterortl vineyards are planted from 2,000 to 2,800 feet above sea level in Italy's Alps, near Naturno in South Tyrol. They surround a castle built in 1278 that has been owned by Reinhold Messner since 1983. Messner is one of the world's most famous extreme mountaineers, the first to solo climb Mt. Everest and the first to summit Everest without supplementary oxygen. This site is also where the remains of Ötzi the Ice Man were found. He is the oldest natural mummy ever found, and he lived from 3275 BC to 3230 BC.
Some 5,000 years after Ötzi's untimely demise, Raphael and Christine Burki started leasing the vineyards from the Messner family and making the Castel Juval Unterortl wines. They work about 4.3 hectares, with figs, quince, apples, and wild herbs as well as vines. They are certified organic and qualify as heroic, meaning the steepness and altitude are some of the most challenging to work in the world of wine. The vines are forced to work their roots into the gneiss bedrock for water, and this among other struggles add to the taut energy and tension in the wines.
As someone who straddles the GenX/Millennial divide, my predilection for things Xtreme has been captured by these wines from one of the most extreme places in Europe. And be sure to pour one out for Ötzi.
Jonathan Kemp
