When Cantina Tramin’s Epokale 2009 became the first Italian white wine to be awarded 100 points by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate in 2018, it must have seemed the perfect time for the team to sit back and light up the cigars. That is not, however, winemaker Willi Stürz’s style. ‘We thought that maybe the wine had a little too much to say for itself. Perhaps in the longer term something with more elegance and restraint might be the better choice.’
Subsequent vintages of Epokale have seen production techniques carefully adjusted in order to ensure the wine offers a true reflection of each vintage. ‘It’s about getting the balance right, particularly of the sugars,’ he insists. ‘Once the fermentation seems to slow, we know the moment is approaching when the wine will achieve the harmony that we are looking for.’
Remarkably, 2009 was Epokale’s first vintage. The wine was designed to fill a gap in the co-operative’s portfolio: for a Gewürztraminer specialist (the variety accounts for 20% of Tramin’s total production) there seemed to be something missing between Terminum, a dessert wine made from grapes affected by noble rot, and Nussbaumer, the definitive version of the drier style.
The answer was found in documents dating back to the end of the middle ages referring to a sweeter style of wine produced from later harvested grapes.
Gewürztraminer: what’s in a name?
Tramin, a small village in the south of the Alto Adige, has not only lent its name to the grape (which translates as ‘the spicy one from Tramin’) but has also established itself as one of the variety’s most important production areas, where the variety has been present for over 1,000 years.
The spicy, aromatic and fuller-bodied style of wine (often with a hint of residual sugar) produced in the Alto Adige is hugely popular on the domestic market and is currently enjoying greater exposure via the popularity of fusion-style cuisine.
Cantina Tramin Epokale
Epokale is an extraordinary wine by any standards and subsequent vintages have enhanced its reputation, regularly recording scores of 95 points and above across all the major wine publications.
Production techniques are in part intuitive, guided by Willi’s experience and expertise, but generally follow an emerging pattern: the grapes are sourced from two southeast-facing vineyards at 420 metres above sea level close to the Nussbaumerhof estate in Söll, a small hamlet just above Tramin itself.
Yields are kept low (less than 30hl/ha) on soils composed of limestone and loam on a bedrock of porphyry. The climate here is classically Alpine, with warm and sunny days punctuated by much cooler night time temperatures, allowing perfect ripening conditions for the fruit.
In the cellar, following a short period of cold maceration, fermentation begins with a yeast culture specifically developed from local strains, and takes place over a month at low temperatures. As malic acid values in the variety are typically very low, malolactic fermentation is avoided. The wine rests on its gross lees in stainless steel for up to 10 months, with periodic stirring.
After bottling, Epokale completes its maturation process in unique conditions: just over 100 kilometres to the north, close to the border with Austria, lies the abandoned silver mine at Val Ridanna, at over 2,000m above sea level. Buried four kilometres down, deep inside the mine, Epokale spends the next six years in total darkness in an atmosphere which maintains a constant temperature of 12°C and 90% humidity – an ideal environment for ageing wine.
It would be a nigh on impossible task to replicate such a production regime and, so far, Epokale has spawned no imitators. Similarly, the attention to detail is unparalleled: only six vintages have been released to date.
The ‘missing’ seventh vintage, 2014, is undergoing an extended period of bottle maturation back at the mine and is still years from being ready.
A vertical tasting
The opportunity to taste the entire back catalogue, including the recently released 2015, in June was simply one not to be missed. While the 2009 remains a pyrotechnical masterpiece, the variations in style over the course of the ensuing vintages mark the development of what is becoming the defining Epokale style.
It became abundantly clear during the tasting that a certain level of residual sugar helps give the wine extra lift and breadth and can take Gewürztraminer to another level. As Willi points out: ‘The ageing process has convinced us of this. I think future vintages will probably level out at between 60-80g/l: that seems to be the optimum level for combining freshness with richness and power without compromising longevity.’
Epokale certainly ages beautifully: when the youthful exuberance has begun to recede, the wines show greater overall distinction and harmony, achieving a completeness which can indeed only be described as exceptional.
Cantina Tramin Epokale: Every vintage rated
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