C---L: The line between C and L on the wine's label is not a meaningless trick by a bored winemaker. Rather, it serves to conceal the name of the CAMPILL vineyard, the home vineyard of the Pranzegg winery, which has been in the possession of Martin Gojer's family for generations - and whose name he has not been allowed to print on his label for some time.
Following the re-evaluation of the South Tyrolean vineyards a few years ago, this is now only permitted if a wine from the Campill (or Kampill, depending on the spelling) vineyard also contains Cabernet Sauvignon (!). A top dog in the South Tyrolean wine world has chosen the site for a few plantings of the Bordelais variety and apparently convinced the specialists at the regulatory authority that the vineyard would lose its character and identity without it.
Martin Gojer, on the other hand, has 50-year-old vines of the classic South Tyrolean variety Vernatsch (Italian: Schiava), from which he presses one of the best red wines in the entire region, and not just in our opinion.
So the line is also a commentary.
The Campill is a steep slope based primarily on porphyry and overlying sandy weathered soils. It is exposed to the north, a circumstance that has a positive effect on the slightly delayed ripening of the grapes. The Vernatsch, which is rooted in this soil, is now 50 years old, although one should actually speak of the variety in the plural. Vernatsch actually represents a grape variety family with several, sometimes quite different members: Martin Goyer's C---L, for example, consists of red Vernatsch (Schiava Gentile) and grey Vernatsch (Schiava Grigia), two grape varieties that look and taste different.
However, he harvests and ferments them together. After six weeks of maceration, the C-----L is transferred to used oval and conical wooden barrels and matured for 10 months. It finds its final balance in cement vats and wooden barrels the following year.
Vernatsch is a great variety and the C-----L is probably its best interpretation. Light, agile and subtle, it is at the same time deep, dense and multi-layered. Red berries and floral notes characterise the aroma profile. A fine acidity bundles a soft and warm structure and leads the wine directly to the palate. Those who recognise parallels with Pinot Noir are not wrong.
Data sheet
Grape variety: Rotvernatsch (Schiava Gentile) and Schiava Grigio (Grauvernatsch)
Vineyard: Campill, a north-west facing site at an altitude of approx. 400 metres,
Fermentation: spontaneous | wild yeasts, 6-week maceration
Ageing: 10 months in oval and conical wooden barrels, then for a further 12 months in oak or cement
Filtration: no
SO₂:< 50 mg/l
Closure: Natural cork
Alcohol: 12%
Drinking temperature: 16-18 °C
Perfect drinking maturity: from now - 2030
Content and price per litre: 0.75 l/(€32.37/l)
Maxime: All winegrowers listed with Vinonudo work with compost, organic fertilisers and natural preparations in their vineyards and refrain from using herbicides, pesticides and artificial fertilisers.
