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A generational change is taking place in the South Tyrolean Kurtatsch winery: winemaker Othmar Donà has handed over responsibility to his agronomist and deputy oenologist Erwin Carli. Donà had taken over the management of the cooperative winery, which today has 190 members, in 1992.
For Carli, innovation and research are an important contribution to the future viability of the winery: he has gained a lot of experience, for example, in experiments with alternative yeasts for lower alcohol production to steps to reduce the ecological footprint in the cellar and vineyard. The analytical and research work in the vineyard that Othmar Donà has been doing for more than ten years will be continued.
Donà has expanded the cultivation of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon by more than 65 per cent, as the steep, warm and southeast-facing sites offer excellent conditions for them, a statement says. "When I started at the Kurtatsch winery more than thirty years ago, it was hardly known to anyone and focused on quantity rather than quality," Othmar explained. "It is a great satisfaction that today we are one of the most important wineries in South Tyrol and Italy."
He had been doing micro-vinifications for years to understand what was right for each variety and adapted the work to the changing climate, Othmar Donà said. "For the red wines, we even found more favourable conditions. For the white wines, we were lucky to be able to move out with the vineyards to higher altitudes to preserve the characteristic finesse and minerality of South Tyrolean wines."
(uka / source: press release)