Kurtatsch Freienfeld Riserva Cabernet Sauvignon: a vertical bursting with Alpine character

Like many other wineries in Alto Adige, Cantina Kurtatsch is a cooperative. One of the smallest, in fact. Founded in 1900, its 190 member families grow enough fruit across 190 hectares for 1.5 million bottles per annum, spread across a significant range of 34 wines.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for six vintages of Kurtatsch Freienfeld Riserva Cabernet Sauvignon

A recent opportunity to taste a vertical of Kurtatsch’s Freienfeld Riserva Cabernet Sauvignon allowed me to appreciate the alpine qualities of this ageable red. It belongs to the coop’s ‘Terroir’ range, which focuses on wines made from low-yielding vines from the best sites, maintaining a sense of place.

First released in 1990 with the 1988 vintage, its roots arguably go back to the mid-19th century, when Archduke Johann first encouraged the planting of noble red varieties from France.

The two hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon for Freienfeld, planted in 1980, are grown between 220 and 350 metres above sea level on steep southeastern slopes. The soils, gravelly and calcareous, are not unlike those found on Bordeaux’s left bank, making them perfectly suited to Cabernet.

The vines here benefit from plenty of sunshine during the day: 300 sunshine days per annum, the same as Palermo in Sicily. These lower-altitude vineyards – the highest, reserved for white varieties, climb to 700m – are among the warmest in Alto Adige, reaching up to 40°C in the height of summer. A cool breeze from the Mendola ridge runs down the slopes at night, creating a large day/night temperature swing which helps to retain freshness in the grapes by prolonging physiological ripening.

Freienfeld Riserva Cabernet Sauvignon is only made in years where the conditions allow for high quality grapes, so just 20 vintages have been released to date: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Since 2015, Kutatsch has followed a sustainability program. In the vineyards this includes preserving biodiversity, sowing plants as green manure and banning the use of herbicides for the Terroir range (one treatment per year is still permitted for other wines). In the modern low-energy winery it includes using water from their own on-site sources and the use of unbleached, undyed and chemical-free corks from certified sustainable forests.

After a temperature-controlled fermentation in rotary tanks, Freienfeld Cabernet is matured in French barriques for 15 months, followed by a further nine months in large oak barrels and at least one year in bottle.

The result in bottle is at first tightly wound but – as the vertical below demonstrates – after some time the fruit and spice is delicately unfurled. These Cabernets show no hint of opulence or overripeness. Instead, they showcase their Alpine surroundings with beautiful fragrance, ripe black fruits and pepperminty freshness allied with dense but supple tannins.

Best enjoyed within 20 years of the vintage, if you’re a fan of more savoury Cabernet expressions then Kurtatsch’s fine example is well worth seeking out.

Kurtatsch Freienfeld Riserva Cabernet Sauvignon:

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