Prospecting for rare air does carry a potentially hefty price. There is the danger of frost and temperature extremes, vine exposure, concerns about reaching full ripeness, and one of the biggest deterrents: the impractical and expensive reality of farming on a mountainside. CERVIM (Centre for Research, Environmental Sustainability and Advancement of Mountain Viticulture; www.cervim.org) even goes so far as to refer to high altitude vineyards as “heroic viticulture.” It is certainly not for the faint-hearted.
Yet at its heart, “steep site, cool climate” viticulture is not at all new to places like Germany, Austria, Switzerland and northern Italy. In fact, many established vineyards are enjoying the latest trends that hold cool to be, well... cool. An almost alpine elegance can be found in the chiseled precision from Austria’s 335 m high Zornberg in the Wachau (Hall 17) and the cool, herbal clarity of the 250-meter Heerkretz/Rheinhessen from Weingut Wagner-Stempel (Hall 14, Stand E 31). Looking beyond the Old World, the cool micro-climate of California’s Monte Bello (396 -822 m) wines from Ridge Vineyards (Hall 9) in the Santa Cruz Mountains fits this profile as well.
But perhaps no region has embraced the role of pushing the established altitude boundaries and expectations as much as Argentina, a land of breathtaking, snow-capped peaks. Bodega Catena Zapata’s (Hall 9) White Stones and White Bones Chardonnays from the dizzying heights of the Adrianna Vineyard (1400 m) are some of the most radical new wines made from this grape anywhere in the world and have often been referred to as the Grand Cru of South America. The vineyards were planted at these heights only in 1992, and it’s clear that these wines are shaped as much by the stony calcareous soil as the altitude. The unique drainage properties of the volcanic subsoil mean that the vines naturally maintain low yields and healthy fruit -- the goal of any producer.