Colterenzio Santa Magdalener

The Wine

We love the wines coming from Northern Italy's "Alto Adige" region! Their notes of red fruits and violets are perfectly in line with today's popularity explosion for chillable reds.

The Santa Magdalener is an obscure grape, to say the least, and is just one of the 500+ wine grapes Italians use for making wine, with each variety found most often in just one region. This Santa Magdalener is vinified with skin contact in stainless steel, followed by malolactic fermentation and aging in concrete tanks for four months. No oak, just clarity and sense of place.

Tasting Notes: Black cherry, violet, and red currant, with a faint echo of alpine herbs and crushed stone. These red summer fruits enjoy an accompaniment of mild acidity and a trace of bitterness (think walnuts) that makes the wine intriguing. 

Pairing Ideas: Speck or other smoked ham, mushroom risotto and even roasted trout. For cheese pairings, try this wine with a wedge of Toma Piemontese or semi-soft cow’s milk cheese with a touch of funk (Cowgirl Creamery, anyone?). Also brilliant with beef carpaccio or lentil salad with herbs and citrus.    

The Winery

Colterenzio is a new-generation cooperative in Alto Adige/Sud Tyrol ('South Tyrol', a Germanic name originally given to the area when within the Austrian boundary). Founded in 1960, the co-op is now comprised of over 300 member families farming a total of 720 acres (or just about 2.5 acres per grower!).

These family vineyards stretch from 750 feet to 2,100 feet above sea level, spanning 12 varieties and a mosaic of microclimates.

The old European wine co-ops earned a well-deserved bad reputation, so it's important that we spend a bit of time telling you about how Colterenzio is an entirely different breed of cat. They are a modern blend of transparency, sustainability, and technical finesse, a winery built with permaculture principles, and farming that is ecologically driven, with low intervention.

In short, Colterenzio is proof that collective effort can yield singular expression. Their wines are clean, honest, and quietly thrilling—just like the Dolomites that cradle them.