Common white-winemaking practice, especially in cooler regions, entails pushing the vine to create as much sugar as possible, with the goal of producing ripe, concentrated grapes that can be picked at optimal maturity. Manni Nössing of the Valle Isarco, Italy’s northernmost wine-growing district, has other ideas. High in the Dolomites, summers can reach sweltering extremes, with only the cool nights conferred by altitude allowing a fresh balance in the wines. Especially in recent vintages, Manni has noticed a predilection for overripe, flabby wines with high alcohol and little aromatic finesse rather than the sharp acid bombs many growers fear.
     “Since 2008, I have left an additional cluster on each vine and stopped removing leaves so that the grapes can stay in the shade,” Manni explains, with the staunch conviction one would expect from a brawny mountain man of Germanic descent. “I harvest up to two weeks earlier than what is normal for the region. My wines are made to be drinkable, not impress the critics.”
     You’ll see the result of his counter-intuitive approach in this laser-precise Grüner, a grape more commonly associated with neighboring Austria. The variety has found a second home here in Alto Adige, and Manni has established himself as a master of the racy, mineral-driven style. If you seek a crisp Alpine freshness in your whites, here it is—prepare to salivate. –Anthony Lynch