Alto Adige Press Summary November 2014 Alto Adige Wines press coverage during the month of November 2014 garnered a total of 29,648,814 media impressions and 51 total articles. Of these articles, 1 was featured on broadcast television, 31 were published online, and 19 were published in print publications. Highlights include Wine & Spirits magazine, in which J. Hofstätter is noted for having received six "Winery of the Year" awards in the past 27 years. Celebrity Chef, Marcus Samuelsson included 2012 J. Hofstätter Meczan Pinot Nero as a recommendation for pairing with Moroccan-Spiced Turkey in his Food & Wine Thanksgiving feature. Hayley Hamilton Cogill, an attendee of the press trip to Alto Adige in September 2014, published several articles in D Magazine which include recommendations for Tieffenbruner Pinot Grigio, Abbazia di Novacella Lagrein, and J. Hofstätter Pinot Nero. Hayley was also featured on a morning television segment which reached 1,000,000 households during which she recommended Abbazia di Novacella Grüner Veltliner as a food-friendly wine to pair wish autumn dishes such as pumpkin soup. Brian Freedman, who also attended the press trip, included 2012 Cantina Terlano Quarz as a top bottle to collect in his Philadelphia Style magazine article which ran in print and online Other top mentions include Details magazine in which Roger Morris recommends Elena Walch Gewürztraminer as a wine to pair with Thanksgiving dinner, and Fine Cooking magazine in which 2012 Muri-Gries Lagrein and 2012 Elena Walch Lagrein are suggested for pairing with linguine and cauliflower.
Date: 11/1/2014 Print Audience: 253,259 Online Audience: 690,960 Page Count: 1/1
Fine Cooking
Date: 11/1/2014 Print Audience: 89,306 Online Audience: 64,415 Page Count: 1/1
Wine & Spirits
Date: 11/1/2014 Print Audience: 89,306 Online Audience: 64,415 Page Count: 1/1
Wine & Spirits
Date: 11/1/2014 Print Audience: 89,306 Online Audience: 64,415 Page Count: 1/2
Wine & Spirits
Date: 11/1/2014 Print Audience: 89,306 Online Audience: 64,415 Page Count: 2/2
Wine & Spirits
Date: 11/1/2014 Print Audience: 944,191 Online Audience: 4,240,863 Page Count: 1/2
Food & Wine
Date: 11/1/2014 Print Audience: 944,191 Online Audience: 4,240,863 Page Count: 2/2
Food & Wine
Date: 11/4/2014 Online Audience: 611,361 Page Count: 1/1
Paste Magazine
The time of year is fast approaching when you are going to be called on to appease some oenophile on your gift-list, or show up to a Thanksgiving gathering or other holiday celebration with a suitably debonair host-token, or impress that “Person You Want To Impress” with the gift of high-class tipsiness. Following are a handful of my picks for the Wine Person in your life or Wine-Oriented Occasion you just can’t show up to with a six-pack of Coronas. I’ve divided this list into sections that ought to give you a well-vetted idea or two for just about any circumstances. A few of the wines I’m going to talk about fall into more than one category and will show up accordingly. Some of them apply to more than one category but I won’t mention them four times. Just deal with it, man—this is a Choose Your Own Adventure kind of thing. The point is, there is something for everyone and you can use this list as a starting point with reasonable confidence that you’ll score a hit. First things first: Thanksgiving is going to be here faster than you want it to.
So, someone knocked herself (or himself) out creating a give-thanks feast, and you want to bring something that suitably conveys your gratitude. And pumpkin pie just isn’t your strong suit (my mother has now managed to delight the troops with a pumpkin pie to which she absentmindedly forgot to add sugar. We delegate dessert now). A great wine is always in style, always appreciated, and generally benefits from an absence of sugar so let’s survey the landscape here. For many, the generally acknowledged Emperor of the Thanksgiving table is Pinot Noir; for others it is Zinfandel; for some, it is simply unthinkable to pair a red wine with a white meat if you are a traditional sort. (I have not yet found the right pairing for Tofurkey; please feel free to ring in with suggestions.) We have happily stepped away from the pairing strictures of past generations and the reigning attitude among all but the snobbiest wine snobs is “if it tastes good to you, it tastes good to you.” That said, I personally don’t recommend a Malbec or a Gewurtztraminer with the usual Thanksgiving subjects. So, following are a handful of special occasion worthy wines I happen to think are pretty awesome and imminently suitable playmates for a Thanksgiving meal. Cantina Terlan 2010 “Quarz” Sauvignon Blanc Around $50.00. This will not be the perfect wine for every single iteration of Thanksgiving dinner, but it’s a pretty perfect wine. This heavily-laureled white from Alto Adige has a beautiful straw yellow color, and a rather exotic nose that leans toward lemongrass and mint and, I think, tea, and the rich, rounded minerality that characterizes the whites of this region. Palate: rich, slightly woodsy, with exotic florals and hints of elderflower and apricot. Long finish. Gorgeous.
Date: 11/6/2014 Online Audience: 850,894 Page Count: 1/1
Details Online
No wine matches perfectly with every imaginable food, but a few are versatile enough to make it from apps to dessert with nary a raised eyebrow—partyplanning heaven. And yes, this means you can eat turkey, goose, salmon, or vegetarian casserole, with or without sauces and sides, and not worry about tannins or oak obliterating your palate. Below are six wines structured around different types of meals. European Gewurztraminer Provenance: Alsace in eastern France and Alto Adige in northeast Italy Why it's so versatile: Most wines provide either a match or a contrasting balance to foods, but a peppery Gewurztraminer can actually add complementary elements to flavors. An ideal Thanksgiving pairing: Cape Cod-style clambake with lobster claws, clams, and mussels served with spicy rice and finished with gingerbread loaf cake with a light nut sauce.
Date: 11/6/2014 Online Audience: 58,794 Page Count: 1/2
SideDish
Warm and comforting, robust yet refined, fresh and flavorful describes both authentic Italian cuisine, as well as some of the finest Italian wines from the country. As temperatures cool a hearty Italian wine can be the ideal wine to open any night, with the bonus being the food friendly wines are great with a wide array of flavors, so consider one of these wines to pair with your favorite Italian inspired, or truly American, dish. A few selections were sent for editorial consideration.
Date: 11/6/2014 Online Audience: 58,794 Page Count: 2/2
SideDish
I had the incredible opportunity recently to visit one of the most beautiful places in the world, the Alto Adige region. With vineyards climbing to upwards of 7000 and 8000 feet above sea level, growing cool weather white varieties like Müller-Thurgau, Gruner Veltliner and their beloved Pinot Blanc and Pinot Grigio the whites of the region prove that great wine can be produced in even the most challenging circumstances. Tieffenbruner Pinot Grigio is one such wine that shows the delicate nuances of a variety that can often be over-processed in other parts of the country. Mineral and herbal notes fill the steely fresh wine, leading into ripe stone fruit notes of white peach with just the right balance of citrus. $15 at Pogo’s. Müller-Thurgau is traditionally thought to be a wine of Germany, but the Alto Adige proves that their cool Northwestern Italian climate and high elevations are perfect conditions for the variety. Producer Alois Lageder, one of the oldest wineries in the region dating back to 1823, produces a honey, white flower, sweet spice and stone fruit filled Müller-Thurgau, that balances freshness with elegance for a perfect wine to sip on its own or with creamy pasta. $15 at Pogo’s.
White wines aren’t the only thing grown in Alto Adige, at lower elevations, where red fruit can ripen fresh and vibrant Pinot Noir, light and fruit Schiava, and earthy Lagrein grow, often trained on pergolas to ensure maximum exposure to sunlight, creating juicy, fruit filled wines with bright acidity. The Lagrein variety has been grown in the region for generations, often by villagers in vines on their property for personal consumption. Abbazia di Novacella, an active Augustinian Canons Regular monastery of Neustift that dates back to the 12th Century, maintains itself economically through the cultivation and sales of agricultural products. Their Abbazia di Novacella Lagrein is bold and concentrated, layered with blackberry, black cherry, balsamic, and earthy, wild flower notes. An interesting wine showing the broad range of flavors available in the region. $28 at Spec’s.
Date: 11/19/2014 Online Audience: 4,290 Page Count: 1/2
Dallas Uncorked
You know you are making a turkey, and probably have your side dishes set (or at least the recipes in mind,) but what to pair with all those delicious flavors? Today on The Broadcast we walked through a handful of ideal wines for pairing next week. I will have a full assortment of recipe ideas up tomorrow as well, if you are still trying to figure out if you should go with butternut squash soup or a roasted root vegetable salad, Brussels sprouts with bacon or balsamic, and mashed potatoes or polenta. With that in mind, put these wines on your shopping list.
Date: 11/19/2014 Print Audience: 4,290 Page Count: 2/2
Dallas Uncorked
Date: 11/19/2014 Online Audience: 685,455 Page Count: 1/2
Snooth
It took me thirteen hours to get to Italy, and twentythree hours to return to New York City. Sometimes the things I do to explore new wines make no sense from 30,000 feet. But once on the ground, the wines and the people almost always enrapture me and immediately make the journey worth my time. Asked to judge two competitions – one on indigenous varieties of Alto Adige and one on Lagrein – about six months ago, I was seduced by the chance to learn more about this region. Alto Adige makes a large percentage of the highest quality wines in Italy though it makes a relatively small percentage of Italy’s overall production. Does this seem surprising? Just flip open a map and look closely at Bolzano’s geo-positioning. It’s smacked up against Austria , and this region is part of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, which disintegrated only 100 years ago this year. Aromatic varieties (mostly white) from this region can make one swoon, but so do the top reds. Here are some of my favorite off-the-beaten path Northern Italian red grape varieties to impress your guests, and yourself, this holiday season. Lagrein Lagrein is a black grape variety grown in the northern regions of Trentino, in the Trentino DOC, and Alto Adige, in the South Tyrol/Südtirol DOC. It’s an inky colored grape, generous in extract and packed with ripe cherry fruit. Its non-fruit aromas range from earthy to gamey to downright funky. Blaringly bold at every facet, it shows off its rough-hewn tannins and high-frequency acidity with pride. The two play off each other and give the wines a pleasantly bitter edge.
Date: 11/19/2014 Online Audience: 685,455 Page Count: 2/2
Five to try: Kellerei Andrian Lagrein Rubeno Kellerei Nals Margreid Lagrein Tiefenbrunner Lagrein Turmhof
Niedermayr Lagrein Gries Riserva St Michael – Eppan Lagrein Riserva
Vernatsch
Vernatsch is almost Alto Adige’s Pinot Noir. It is fairly light in color, fine in aroma and chiseled in acidity. As are most of the wines in this region, it is also known by another name. In this case, it is Schiava. Two to try:
Kellerei Nals Margreid Vernatsch Gumphof Vernatsch
Snooth
Date: 11/20/2014 Online Audience: 58,794 Page Count: 1/1
SideDish
Date: 11/25/2014 Online Audience: 58,794 Page Count: 1/1
SideDish
Thanksgiving is this week, which means Christmas isn’t far away and New Year’s Eve is right behind. Whether you are cooking a big bird, a crown roast, a pile of short ribs, or a perfect beef tenderloin, a great bottle of wine should be on the table to accompany your dinner party. Last week I posted on a full list of food friendly Pinot Noir options, ideal for Thanksgiving. Here are a few more options to make your holiday complete. A few selections were sent for editorial consideration.
Food friendly Italian wines shine anytime a hearty meal is involved, and when family comes together in celebration. Barbera and Dolcetto from Piemonte are two wonderful, food friendly Italian varieties, and a Chianti Classico always represents Italy’s favorite variety of Sangiovese well, however there are many more Italian options to consider when pairing with the bold flavors or a holiday meal. From Alto Adige the favorite red varieties of the region include Lagrein and Schiava. The Schiava variety in particular is a perfect go to for Thanksgiving, as the subtle yet juicy and balanced flavors of the grape will meld nicely with the bold flavors of the meal.
Date: 11/25/2014 Print Audience: 51,949 Online Audience: 26,845 Page Count: 1/1
Philadelphia Style Magazine