The Summa of wine

On April 6th and 7th, Magrè (Bolzano) has held the thirteenth edition of Summa, an event organised by producer Alois Lageder in which his closest colleagues-friends are involved, presenting their respective best wines, including the new vintages. Guided tours of the winery and vineyards, seminars and many tastings outline the two days at Summa, for professionals in the sector only, with over 50 producers among whom are many famous specialist of organic and biodynamic products from Italy, Germany, Austria, France, Portugal, Spain and New Zealand. Lageder invites all those who are present to illustrate «the quality of their wines with all the details which, during the various phases of the production, lead to harmony with nature, with the utmost respect and the objective of illustrating environmental sustainability». There’s a symbolic entrance fee, the proceeds of which are donated to a charity called Aiutare senza confini.

Lageder explains the idea of this project arrived in 1999, during a trip to Bordeaux with the producer-friend from Montalcino Andrea Costanti. In 2000 there was the first edition of this beautiful idea which, over time, evolved, and now includes tastings of oil, cheese, speck and pasta. Among the partners of this event there’s Monograno Felicetti which even this year brought chef Davide Scabin for a first in its kind interpretation of pasta in a classic and a contemporary version of Egg tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce, Spelt fusilli with Grana Padano fondue, asparagus and barzotto egg and a Canederlo made with Spaghettoni Matt.

The tasting of different vintages of Conti Costanti, with Andrea himself, the latest generation of one of Montalcino’s historic brands, was a not-to-be-missed event. His winery is one of the most ancient locations in the territory: 25 hectares of vineyards of which 12 are dedicated to Sangiovese alone. The tasting included 40 years of extraordinary Brunelli, from 1967 to 2007, great vintages which outline austere but always elegant wines with a marked squaring of the circle and elegant tannins. Le Macchiole is also from Tuscany, in Bolgheri, a territory a few kilometres from the sea, a place the vine-dressers interpret through the pureness of a sole-variety wine, for example the famous Paleo Rosso 2009 Igt Toscana, 100% cabernet franc, 24 thousand bottles each year for the most awarded wine in the world, full of character and an unmistakable style.

A new entry from Piedmont, in this edition, is the winery Forteto della Luja fom Loazzolo (Asti), an oasis affiliated to Wwf with a production of organic wines since 2007. This is a family run winery in which Silvia, Giovanni and Giancarlo Scaglione have transformed the original cellar made with stone, dating back to the end of the 19th century, by producing excellent wines, representative of the territory, such as Le Grive, a blend of barbera and pinot nero and the famous Loazzolo doc, the smallest doc in Italy, a meditation wine resulting from a late harvest of moscato bianco grapes, withered and with botrytis.

Finally, we point out the commitment of Alois Lageder, who is focused on promoting a sustainability linked not only to nature but also to social issues, making handicapped kids participate in taking care of his vineyards.