Boschera Winkler

Alessandro Winkler is exploring the potential of Prosecco with his alternative Frizzante versions while simultaneously helping the nearly forgotten Boschera grape variety experience a small but important renaissance.

It probably takes outsiders to reveal new facets of a region like Prosecco. You can’t really expect that from the long-established wineries—and who can blame them? As long as the sweetish fizzy stuff keeps selling like crazy, there’s little incentive to change anything—neither when it comes to quality nor the rather loosely interpreted idea of sustainability.

Alessandro Winkler is actually a dentist and only a part-time winemaker. He has zero interest in releasing more run-of-the-mill Frizzante into the world. Instead, he wants to get the best out of his vines, make truly good wines, and pay tribute to the old traditions of the region. His three hectares of organically farmed vineyards are located on the eastern edge of the Veneto, in a hilly area where forests and vineyards alternate.

The Boschera grape—Winkler’s most important variety—owes its name to the ever-present nearby forest ("bosco" in Italian). Decades ago, Boschera was reportedly found all over the region, until it slowly fell into obscurity. It likely would have disappeared altogether if it hadn’t been mandated to make up 25 percent of Torchiato di Fregona, a now-rare sweet wine.

Dr. Winkler had always been a fan of the variety, and when he got the chance to work seriously with it in 2012, he seized the opportunity. On the one hand, he liked the idea of saving it from potential extinction; on the other, he was firmly convinced of its potential—not as a sweet wine, but as Spumante.

He made his debut in 2015. Apart from the grape variety, his winemaking approach differs fundamentally from what’s typically seen in this region. Alessandro avoids the usual arsenal of additives, refrains from fining and filtering, and carries out the secondary fermentation in the bottle. He doesn’t disgorge or dose, which results in a slightly cloudy Frizzante—but one that’s full of character, energy, and tension.

In addition to Boschera, Winkler also cultivates a vineyard of Pinot Nero, a grape with a surprisingly long history in the Prosecco region. He, too, transforms it into a vibrant and crystal-clear Frizzante. The grapes were gently pressed with their stems and underwent spontaneous fermentation. In the spring, the wine was bottled with minimal sulfites for its second fermentation and released after about two years of aging.