Nestled in the Überetsch Valley of Northern Italy, a three-and-a-half hour drive north and east of Milan, Thomas Niedermayr tends the soils of Hof Gandberg.
His vineyard sits a little more than 1,600-feet above sea level, and is influenced by the presence of Porphyry stone rubble formations and the cold air wind tubes they create. This continuous cold draught — even during the hottest months of the year — creates an ideal situation for developing authentic and natural South Tyrolean wines of strong character.
The business is a family affair. Niedermayr’s grandfather passed the vineyard down to his father, Rudolf, who in 2012 passed it down to him. Back when his father ran the business, the grapes being grown were all classical vitis vinifera varieties. But things changed in 1994 when Rudolf first learned about non-vinifera grapes. Naturally resistant to some of the more pernicious pests and diseases that most vintners worked overtime to avoid, the decision to adopt these non-traditional varieties was a no-brainer.
“My father was one of the first ones here changing the idea of agriculture,” Niedermayr says.
Even though vitis vinifera grapes dominate the wine market, vintners around the world have for decades experimented with non-traditional grapes, in part, because of the changing climate. Often referred to as hybrid grapes or PIWIs, these varieties have proven more adaptable to withstanding unpredictable weather patterns, and are generally more resilient.
It was in 1999 that Rudolf Niedermayr first planted his first bigger vineyard of Solaris grapes. Since then, only PIWI grape varieties have been planted, including Bronner and Souvignier gris.
Working alongside assistant winemaker Luisa Slotwinsky, the younger Niedermayr focuses solely on non-vinifera varieties. Slotwinsky, who grew up in Germany, studied viticulture and enology with a specific interest in organic and natural winemaking. She joined Niedermayr full-time in August 2022.
I spoke with both of them recently to learn more about their work.
How has your harvest been this year? Are you finished?
Niedermayr:Yes! We finished harvest in the middle of September, mostly our main varieties: Solaris, Bronner, and Souvignier gris.
Slotwinsky:This year was quite hard for many of the farmers around us, to be honest. It was very, very humid in the season, which increases the threat of downy mildew. With our varieties we were very happy. The quality was amazing and we didn’t really have any problems. The acidity and the sugar was just perfect.
I first heard about your wines by word of mouth while visiting Vienna. The owner of a wine bar sent me to the owner of a wine shop that carried your wines. How have you approached marketing wines with grape names that few people recognize?
Slotwinsky:Maybe you can give us some advice! It’s not easy. What Thomas’ father started is very unique in the world today. Marketing PIWI grapes is not very straightforward because it can be difficult to find the right words for them. As a concept, PIWI wines require a lot of explanation. They’re quite niche. And then, of course, there is our own unique approach to these wines, which also takes time to communicate. Ours is a very low-intervention approach with enormous aging potential. It’s also quite niche.
Niedermayr:This is why our main clients are good restaurants. These are environments where sommeliers have the time to explain the philosophy around our wines, and diners are often in a frame-of-mind to hear about them. A sommelier can convince a person to try a wine for the first time.
Slotwinsky:Yes, the customers are generally more interested to see how a good wine can pair with quality food. You get a similar experience in a wine bar. It’s much different than a customer walking into a wine shop with little idea about PIWI wines. In those settings conversations don’t start as easily.
Generally speaking, where can I find Thomas Niedermayr wines today?
Niedermayr: We work in different countries but the main country is Italy at the moment. We also export to Germany, Austria, the US, the UK, Japan, Finland, and Switzerland.
And are they being well-received?
Niedermayr: Some markets are easier for these grape varieties than others. We’ve found good success in Italy, for example. It’s a bit slower in Germany, where there’s still more of a focus on traditional wines.
How about France?
Slotwinsky:[Laughing] No, but we will be at the Millesime Bio fair in Montpellier in January. People are becoming more open, but it remains true that French people love to drink their own wine.
Niedermayr: It’s the screw cap, they don’t like it.
Slotwinsky:[Laughing]Yes, we really wanted to make it hard on ourselves.
Do you see the natural wine and PIWI wine as one in the same, or are these two distinct movements?
Niedermayr: No, for me they are two separate things. Completely separate. It is true that organic producers of wine are more open to using PIWI varieties because they’re aware of problems in fields with soil, with treatments, and with diseases, but when it comes to cultivation and the style of winemaking, there’s a pretty big difference. I know more PIWI producers who aim to make wines in a more classical style because that’s what the market demands here in our region, and it Italy in general. The big market is not a natural wine market. It’s a classical wine market.
Slotwinsky:When I look at my experience with the young wine scene, and what they are drinking, it is often natural wines. But within that scene, they are drinking good wines that are still super-focused on traditions.
For example, take some of the methods you see with biodynamic winemakers. Many of them want to work with horses again. For me, and what I observe, it’s about going back to these old traditions. They aren’t necessarily looking for innovations to the bigger problems we are facing — like climate change.
It’s not a bad thing, what they are doing. Everyone is going down different paths, and that’s amazing. Everyone has a different way of approaching healthy agriculture in different areas. But something needs to change if we really want to work sustainably and treat our soil in a healthy way, in my opinion.
What does the traditional wine industry have to learn from your own experience?
Niedermayr: The wine market is super conservative, and this has to change because of the problems we are seeing everywhere. But nobody is changing.
Many winemakers take innovations seriously, but usually only with technology — the machines — not in the vineyards. Not with biodiversity, or with cover crops, or with new grape varieties. With climate change, we need to start using different, more resistant grape varieties now.
Slotwinsky:They don’t want to hear it.
Perhaps most especially in France.
Slotwinsky:I think France is just super focused on their own traditions and their own history. There are new breeding programs in Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria, Hungary, and many other countries and institutions, but there is still a long way to go.
Again, a huge part of this issue, is going to be about communicating with customers. They still think when they buy an organic wine in the supermarket that it’s without pesticides.
Finally, what is the bedrock ethos that drives your winemaking? What’s the driving philosophy behind your wines?
Niedermayr: Nature is quality in its highest form.
This conversation was edited and condensed for clarity.