Why it matters
The producer
Cantina Kurtatsch is a cooperative winery in the village of Cortaccia, a small Alto Adige commune whose German name, Kurtatsch an der Weinstrasse, places it firmly on the Wine Road that runs through the Adige valley in northeastern Italy. One hundred and ninety member families farm 190 hectares across the village and its surrounding slopes, pooling grapes into a single cellar. Every vineyard is worked by hand.
Andreas Kofler runs the cooperative as president, a position he took at age 32, making him the youngest person to lead a cooperative winery in Alto Adige's history.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Alto Adige occupies the northernmost tip of Italy, above the Adige river in a deep Alpine valley system. The region sits between the Dolomites to the east and the Ortler Alps to the west, and produces wine under the Alto Adige DOC label across a range of altitudes that, in practical terms, means a single cooperative can grow genuinely cool-climate whites and fuller, riper reds within a few kilometres of each other.
Cortaccia lies in the southern part of the zone, where the valley floor warms considerably in summer but hillside vineyards climb high enough to recover the freshness that northern Italian whites depend on. The altitude split is the defining geographical fact at Cantina Kurtatsch. High-elevation parcels stay cooler through the growing season, preserving acidity and mineral character in white varieties. Warmer, south-facing positions lower on the slope accumulate heat that allows red varieties to ripen fully and age in barrel without losing freshness.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
All 190 hectares are hand-harvested, a logistical commitment at cooperative scale that keeps fruit intact through the picking window and avoids the oxidative bruising that mechanical harvesting can introduce, particularly important for white varieties that will spend five months on their lees.
White wines ferment in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks on selected yeasts. The cold fermentation preserves aromatic clarity, pulling out the floral and citrus notes that high-altitude Alto Adige whites carry without the weight or softness that warmer fermentation would add. After fermentation, the wines stay on their fine lees for at least five months before bottling. Lees contact over that period adds a quiet texture and body that keeps the wines fresh without making them feel thin or purely mineral.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range at Cantina Kurtatsch follows the altitude pattern across the vineyards. White varieties planted on high-elevation parcels produce wines with low fermentation temperatures amplifying their natural freshness: expect citrus, white flower, and a mineral thread through the mid-palate. The lees contact over five months adds roundness while retaining the acidity.
Pinot Noir is the documented red, grown on warmer, south-facing sites where it ripens fully while retaining the lighter body and fresh acidity that distinguish Alto Adige Pinot Noir from versions grown farther south in Italy. The large-cask ageing softens the tannins without flattening the fruit: the wine carries red cherry, redcurrant, and red forest berry on the nose, with a body and tannins that are firm but approachable without extended bottle age.