THE ADIGE VALLEY BETTER THAN THE RHINE VALLEY

In the wine-growing Trentino coexists a vast network of wineries that collect over 80% of the Trentino grapes, together with a good number of private producers and processors who have been able to make the most of the peculiarities of this territory.

To the point that the 3 glasses of Gambero Rosso this year were awarded 14 for Trentino wines, well-matched between social and private wineries ( click here ).

The range of brave wines from Pojer and Sandri

Among the latter, the company of the two friends Mario Pojer and Fiorentino Sandri stands out. In 1975, thanks to their common passion for quality wines, they created a particularly creative partnership by founding the company Pojer and Sandri . The wine awarded by Gambero Rosso is a vibrant 2019 Riesling, but we take the opportunity to describe the entire range of “courageous” wines produced by the company.

From the peaks of Faedo

In the space of a few years, the mountain vineyards of Faedo (Tn) have in fact become a strong reference not only locally but nationally, with extensive recognition on the market also at an international level. The winery on the initiative and intuition of the two partners has developed over the years all the most modern winemaking techniques in order to guarantee the wines produced all their fragrance and aromas. It is located 550 meters above sea level on the hill above San Michele, where the Mach Foundation is located, a very important research, training and technical assistance center for the wine sector.

Vocation for experimentation

This physical proximity between the researchers of San Michele and the owners of the company has triggered a constant collaboration, with a great openness to the hospitality of people and projects, which has borne fruit.

When the company was born in 1975 it immediately focused on quality, the first wine produced was an extraordinary Palai Muller Thurgau. The 2-hectare farm has grown to the current 33 hectares.

The first vineyards were all on the Faedo hill, the company then went on to develop in the Cembra Valley, and now most of the vineyards are located in this valley at an altitude ranging from 500 meters to 900 meters in Grumes where he grows the resistant vine, Solaris, says one of the two co-owners Mario Pojer .
«It is the ideal place because there are no drift problems as the vineyard is all surrounded by woods».

The company immediately engaged on two fronts: in the wake of tradition, constantly aiming for innovation with a series of oenological practices aimed at achieving the highest quality. But at the same time, thanks to their environmental sensitivity, Pojer and Sandri were the first to focus on resistant varieties to the point that, when these were recognized, they were ready to market the wine produced.

Infinite zero

«On our vineyard in Grumes, 12 hectares, which goes beyond biodynamic, we planted Solaris - says Pojer-. In the space of 10 years we have only done three treatments with sulfur and zero with copper ».

Consequently we can say that they have zero of everything, from here our “ Infinite Zero ” wine was born : 0 herbicides, 0 yeasts, 0 sulfur, 0 antioxidants. We make 30,000 bottles and 50% goes abroad, in Japan in particular .

Eighty strains of company yeasts

" But we have not limited ourselves to this - continues the winemaker, based in Faedo but with his eyes and mind open to the world - we have also selected our yeasts starting from 80 different strains".

In the meantime, our families have also grown, I have two children already working in the company and Sandri also has three in the company. Their arrival has favored us in opening ourselves to the new means of communication, social media, which are assuming an exceptional importance. Three of them are graduates and have acquired the enthusiasm of their parents on which they have grafted their great professional preparation. This, underlines Mario Pojer, makes us say that our company is equipped to ride the product and process innovation that are a prerequisite for holding up on an increasingly globalized market.

The ideal habitat for Riesling

"With our Trentino Riesling that we have been producing in purity in Cembra for four years on porphyry-based volcanic soils, the latest recognition we have obtained is the 3 glasses of Gambero Rosso".

The very cool and breezy climate and the temperature variations of the mountain vineyards, a habitat close to that of the Rhenish origin of this vine, have allowed Riesling to produce a warm wine, with an intense and particularly elegant aromatic character. The demonstration that the most important ingredient of the terroir is not geography but the competence of the producer.

Originality in the DNA

Among other productions, in the early 1980s Pojer and Sandri began producing the first classic method, reaching 6,000 bottles produced in 2005 and, in 2019, 10 times more bottles of Spumante Trentino were produced: 60,000. The grape used is mainly Chardonnay, obviously produced at high altitude where it maintains an ideal balance between sugars and acidity. «We also produce a Brut Rosè, half Pinot Noir and half white. Another sparkling wine is 35% based on Pinot Nero and 65% Chardonnay ». The success on the market of the first Italian port-like that we have put on the market since 2004 continues, Merlino is a wine, original due to the fact that the fortification is made with an old brandy of its own production.