June 7, 2014
A day in the Alto Adige
I think the perfect combination of being in a beautiful valley surrounded by the gorgeous peaks of the Dolomites, spending the night in a quaint and inviting hotel, and sleeping in a very comfortable bed led to my waking extremely refreshed and raring to go. The morning view outside my balcony was stunningly beautiful. I saw someone taking an early morning row across the lake and grabbed my video camera to capture the moment. I took a quick shower, then met Darrell on the terrace for an Alto Adige breakfast of fresh eggs, local cured ham, pastries, and delicious coffee.
We packed up after breakfast, checked out of the hotel, and headed to the town of Neumarkt (Egna) to meet Peter Dipoli and see his winery. Neumarkt in about a 15 minute drive south east of Haus am Hang, just across the Adige river from the west slopes of the Dolomites to the east slopes. The drive over was mesmerizing with the beauty of the area.
Peter's estate is at the edge of the small town. We pulled into his estate and went inside to greet him. Peter, Henk, and Darrell sat to chat a bit, which gave me a chance to take a look around outside. I walked into town stopping to snap pictures and shoot some video along the way. There were many moments where I would lose track of where I actually was. Yes, I knew I was in Italy, but this looked and felt more like places I've visited in Austria and Germany. This area completely shows the best examples of the exactly what the Tyrol is.
After my stroll through town, I headed into the nearby vineyard by Peter's estate, which is right next to a trellised apple orchard. Unlike any apple orchard most people see, this one is covered with fine netting to protect the fruit from the typical hail storm that roll through the Dolomites. Most of the orchards here use this method to protect the precious fruit.
I returned to Peter's estate where the chat was continuing, so I took a look around inside. Henk then led me down into Peter's cellar to have a look. Peter poured a few of his wines for us to taste, all of which were exceptionally good. Peter is well know for his wine making skills. His wines show the true essence of wine making in the region and show the terroir at its best.
Here is a link to Peter's winery website - www.peterdipoli.com
The clock was ticking, and we were scheduled to meet Mario Pojer at the Pojer e Sandri winery next, so we said goodbye to Peter and Henk and made our way to Pojer e Sandri. The winery is located about 30 minutes south of Neumarkt (Egna) in the town of Faedo. Fadeo is only about one mile, as the crow flies, away from the Adige river, but sits just above the 1500' elevation mark. The ascent from the valley floor was filled with winding switchbacks, and we found our way up to the Pojer e Sandri winery very quickly.
Mario Pojer was waiting to meet us as soon as we pulled into the winery parking lot. The views of the Adige river valley from the winery are stunningly breath taking. The feel is very much like what one experiences when visiting Yosemite National Park. Darrell and Mario chatted a bit, then we went inside to see the winery shop. Fiorentino Sandri came to meet us briefly, but had a busy schedule and had to leave. Here is a link to the Pojer e Sandri website - www.pojeresandri.it
Fiorentino Sandri, Darrell, Mario Pojer
After we were finished in the winery shop, Mario began to show us around. He started by showing us one of their unique inventions outside. The automatic grape washer.
Mario then led us down into the heart of the winery, where we would see the inner workings of their wine production complete with more inventions and innovations they've made.
Pojer e Sandri also has a distillery attached to the winery, which Mario showed us next.
Once inside, we saw that all of the shiny copper and stainless steel fixtures were impressively organized. Even in the distillery there was yet another invention created by Pojer e Sandri. These inventions truly set them apart from all of the others in the business.
Finished with tour, we all hopped into Mario's van. He took us on a drive through the Trentino area to our next stop. The hills and valleys were dotted with small hamlets surrounded by vineyard after vineyard along the way.
Mario stopped on a high roadside pull out above a deep valley. He wanted to show us property which Pojer e Sandri had to painstakingly acquire over time in order to preserve important vineyards they felt would have become lost.
The stop made me feel like I could just lay down a blanket and picnic basket filled with regional cheeses, meats, bread, and a bottle of wine. It would have been a fantastic snack easily followed by a nap, but who was I kidding. I was with Darrell, so there was another stop to be made. We continued on through the mountains and valleys. After a short while, Mario began to descend on an increasingly narrowing road until we arrived at the Pojer e Sandri Acetaia (vinegar house).
Mario showed us the Solaris vines growing outside of the Acetaia
After spending a little time outside, it was time to take a look at the vinegar production inside.
Pojer e Sandri produces artisan wine and fruit vinegars in their vinegar house (Acetaia). The white wine vinegar is from a blend of MĂĽller Thurgau, Sauvignon, Riesling, Traminer, Kerner, and a Manzoni - Chardonnay cross. The red wine vinegar is made from a blend of indigenous grapes varieties such as Negrara, Trentina, Groppello, Lagrein, plus international varieties as Cabernet, Merlot, and Pinot Noir. The fruit vinegars are made of the finest local and regional sourced black currents, cherries, raspberries, elderberries, pears, and quince.
After touring the Acetaia and tasting some of the vinegar, Mario drove us to his home for lunch. Mario's home was as neatly kept as all of the other homes and businesses we saw in the region. Beautifully manicured plants and flowers were everywhere. The surrounding views, from Mario's house were breath taking from every angle.
Mario took us down into his cellar for a look, then it was into the kitchen for a deliciously prepared lunch of anchovy and tomato with basil appetizers, mushroom risotto, quickly seared thinly sliced beef drizzled with olive oil, cooked beans , potato fritters, and fresh local berries all paired with Pojer e Sandri Infinito Zero white wine.
Darrell's thoughts on the Trentino-Alto Adige region.
The morning flew by, as did the delicious lunch. It was now a little after 1 pm and we had to hit the road if we were going to make our next stop on time. Destination: San Casciano val di Pesa, which is a little over five miles south of Florence. It was a solid 3 1/2 hour drive. The drive took us past Trento, Verona, Modena, Bologna, and finally Florence. We arrived at the home of Ilaria Tachis just a bit after 4:30 pm. Ilaria is the daughter of Giacomo Tachis, who is the creator of Antinori's Tuscan superstars Sassicaia, Tignanello, Sammarco, and Solaia. He is arguably Italy's most renowned winemaker. Ilaria arranged our hotel for the night, so after a brief stop at her home, she took us to the nearby Villa I Barronci.
Darrell and I checked in and has some time to unwind before dinner at 7pm out on the Villa patio dinning patio. I dumped my luggage off in my room, which a seperate bungalow adjacent to the main Villa. My wind down consisted of a walk around the grounds while snapping pictures and shooting some video of the surrounding Tuscan beauty.
Here is the Villa I Barronci website - www.ibarronci.com
Before I knew it, the sun began to set and I was treated to a spectacular Tuscan sunset just before dinner.
Ilaria and her husband met us for dinner minutes after the sunset. She brought along a bottle of her 2011 Chianti Classico called "Pargolo." Pargolo is a poetic Tuscan word for "young child." Ilaria's son Riccardo was born on the first day of harvest in 2007, which was Ilaria's first vintage. The wine was delicious. Darrell told Ilaria that he wanted to have the wine for sale at Corti Brothers, so the wine of dinner was soon to be destined for Sacramento.
Here's a link to the Corti Brothers Newsletter featuring Pargolo 2011 Chianti Classico - www.cortibrothers.com/newsletter
Dinner was delicious and filling every bit as much as it was relaxing. I'm sure that the views of the Val di Pesa ( valley of the river Pesa) from our table and the perfect evening weather had a lot to do with it. It was wonderful to only have to walk steps to our rooms for bedtime.