The complexity of Pinot Nero

A family business, a single vineyard area, three grape varieties, but countless genotypes: at the Plonerhof estate in Marling, the focus is on a completely unique variability to occupy an extremely interesting niche. That’s because winemaker Erhart Tutzer wants to be “quality” in everything - from the vine to the bottle.

The vineyards on the Plonerhof estate cover 5 hectares, some of them with slopes of up to 40 percent, where working is difficult and tiring. It is clear that under these conditions one does not receive anything for free.

If you look at the farm, one peculiarity immediately sticks out: the rows are arranged according to the line of maximum slope and not, as in the rest of the Province “a ritocchino” (i.e., following the diagonal of the field). Fading into the background, however, is the real special feature of this winery. “As many as 172 different genotypes of this vine coexist in our Pinot Nero planting,” Erhart Tutzer says, ”and even in the area designated for Sauvignon and Pinot blanc there is a certain amount of different genotypes.” This variety all within the grape variety is the true hallmark of the family business in Marling, and it is also found in the wine Tutzer produces.

Tasting it, one can also perceive the quality policy that underlies the entire business: it begins with the most natural cultivation of the vines as possible, goes through the reduction of the amount of grapes to be harvested from each vine, and ends in the winemaking in the Plonerhof winery.