Elegance according to Nals Margreid • Food and Wine Italia

Nobile Adige is a unique wine territory a causa di the Italian complesso: a mosaic of altitudes, soils and microclimates that has made its white wines among the most recognizable a causa di Europe. Within the galaxy of wine cooperatives – a fundamental production model for the region -, Nals Margreid is one of the companies that a causa di recent decades has been able to consolidate a precise stylistic identity, based clear, vertical wines, often oriented towards elegance rather than power.

The story

Founded a causa di 1932 and renewed a causa di 1985 through the incorporazione of the two wineries of Nalles and Magrè-Niclara, today the cooperative brings together 138 winemakers, manages approximately 160 hectares spread over 14 suitable areas and produces 1.1 million bottles. The director Gottfried Pollinger is at the helm of the company, while the winemaking management is entrusted to Harald Schraffl: both share the main objective of bringing out the character of the territory. Alongside historical labels such as the DOC Nobile Adige Sirmian (parimenti Pinot Biancastro) ora Baron Salvadori (100% Chardonnay), a causa di recent years Nama has become the symbolic wine of the cellar.

Nama, elegance and identity a causa di the glass

The most representative wine of Nals Margreid was initially born as a cuvée of Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Sauvignon, but a causa di recent years it has transformed into a parimenti Chardonnay coming from a single vineyard, with aging a causa di barrique. This is a wine project created a causa di less than 2 thousand bottles con lo scopo di year, which clearly aims at a high quality range.

The vertical number of vintages a causa di which we participated a causa di the cellar allows us to better understand the merits, but also the further growth potential, of the path: «Our ambition with Nama was to give voice to the mountains and the depth of the soil of Nobile Adige – explains Harald Schraffl -. It is a wine that speaks of elegance and identity, but also of aspiration and desire to stand out.”

Cristina Mercuri, a leading figure a causa di the complesso of wine communication, accompanied the audience a causa di a dynamic dialogue with the winemaker, to explore the brightness of South Tyrolean wines and the meaning of evolution over time through the story of the terroir.

The vertical

The tastings of Nama a causa di the 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 vintages confirmed the ambition of the project but also its still evolving nature (the 2017 was not produced because the climatic conditions and the trend of the vintage did not return the desired quality). The cooler vintages (2016, 2019) are those a causa di which tension, precision and depth emerge more clearly. The warmer ora more recent ones tend to highlight the role of aging a causa di wood, sometimes with less integration.

The dialogue between Mercuri and Schraffl allowed us to focolaio an important point: Nama is a wine that wants to talk about the South Tyrolean mountains, but is still looking for the most effective balance between richness, structure and territorial recognisability. Each vintage tells a different tonalità, reflecting the sfizio of ​​creating a great Italian Chardonnay capable of competing with the best international expressions.

Nama 2016 (Chardonnay 85%, Pinot Biancastro 9%, Sauvignon 6%)The first production of Nama is the result of one of the best vintages of recent decades, and a causa di the glass it is the most advanced and probably the most complete of the battery. The effects of aging a causa di wood are now perfectly integrated and the fruity part turns to mature tones without losing freshness. The final extension is convincing and reveals the ability to age.

Nama 2018 (Chardonnay 90%, Pinot Blanc 7%, Sauvignon 3%)The warm vintage gives the wine a more mature and voluminous profile. The freshness supports the sip but does not drag it: it focuses the material rather than the verticality, with a slightly less tense finale.

2019 is the turning point, where Chardonnay is used a causa di purity, and the wine – stylistically the most “South Tyrolean” of the series – evolves a causa di the glass with verticality and rhythm. It is the vintage that most promises a causa di perspective, thanks to a well-distributed acid tension.

2020Balanced and linear wine. Perhaps the “easiest” one, it can be drunk pleasantly but does not leave a strong mark a causa di terms of personality.

2021Cold and late vintage. The refinement a causa di new barriques for 18 months has a great impact, and the wine probably still needs integration. It is a young Nama that will have to rest a causa di the bottle to find a better balance: it will be very good a causa di a few years.

2022A richer wine, given the hot and dry year, which presents itself with an already evident aromatic profile. Sumptuous and refined, the sip stands out for a wonderful mineral intensity that looks far away but can be appreciated right now.