Winemaker Notes
Garnet with a ruby shimmer. Pronounced bouquet, fruity (red and black berries), spicy, pepper and flintstone notes. Medium bodied, savory-fruity, lively and silky.
Pair with white and red meat, poultry, duck, venison and cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A certified organic wine with 7,500 bottles released, the 2019 Pinot Noir Krafuss is a fine expression of the Burgundian grape that needs a little extra time to open aromatically. With patience, the wine is generous with wild cherry, rose, sour plum and blue flower. Delicate spices also appear. It is lean in appearance with a medium ruby color, and the mouthfeel follows suit with freshness and fragility. The Krafuss Vineyard is located in the hills of San Michele Appiano and Montagna at 430 to 450 meters in elevation with rocky and clay calcareous soils.
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Vinous
The 2019 Pinot Noir Krafuss, from a vineyard in the hills above San Michele Appiano, is impossible to ignore, with a whiff of smokey crushed stone and flowery underbrush giving way to depths of wild strawberry and shaved cedar. It’s a model of purity, seamlessly silky and lifted, with white pepper-tinged red berries and mineral underpinnings that add a distinctly savory profile toward the close. The 2019 finishes long and spicy, also lightly tannic, yet with sour citrus nuances that keep me looking back to the glass for more. Some cellaring will be required to allow all of the components here to sing in unison. What a gorgeous rendition of Krafuss.
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James Suckling
Here’s a seriously funky (mostly reduction), sleek, crisp and tannic pinot noir for natural-wine fans! Plenty of dried-herb character and good depth at the dry finish, but some will find this balance challenging. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
A mountainous northern Italian region heavily influenced by German culture, Trentino-Alto Adige is actually made up of two separate but similar regions: Alto Adige and Trentino.
Trentino, the southern half, is primarily Italian-speaking and largely responsible for the production of non-native, international grapes. There is a significant quantity of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Merlot produced. But Trentino's native and most unique red variety, Teroldego, while still rare, is gaining popularity. It produces a deeply colored red wine rich in wild blackberry, herb, coffee and cocoa.
The rugged terrain of German-speaking Alto Adige (also referred to as Südtirol) focuses on small-scale viticulture, with great value placed on local varieties—though international varieties have been widely planted since the 1800s. Sheltered by the Alps from harsh northerly winds, many of the best vineyards are at extreme altitude but on steep slopes to increase sunlight exposure.
Dominant red varieties include the bold, herbaceous Lagrein and delicate, strawberry-kissed, Schiava, in addition to some Pinot Nero.
The primary white grapes are Pinot grigio, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay and Pinot blanc, as well as smaller plantings of Sauvignon blanc, Müller Thurgau. These tend to be bright and refreshing with crisp acidity and just the right amount of texture. Some of the highest quality Pinot grigio in Italy is made here.