It is a winning combination that has linked Cantina Valle Isarco and Riccardo Cotarella since the 2020 harvest. A collaboration, the one signed at the time and which today celebrates its first five years, aimed at further increasing the quality of viticulture and wines of the youngest cooperative winery in Alto Adige. A path, the one taken by all the wines of Cantina Valle Isarco, which in the last five years, under the aegis of the number one of Italian winemakers, has seen them further increase what is their finesse and contemporaneity. Each label among the productions of the reality led by the general manager Armin Gratl and the resident winemaker Stephan Donà “are wines that have in their DNA all the characteristics sought by consumers today, namely balance, kindness and character”, explains Cotarella.
Cantina Valle Isarco: a five-year assessment by Riccardo Cotarella
Founded in 1961 by 24 families, Cantina Valle Isarco is the youngest wine cooperative in Alto Adige. Today, the members have become 135 and they cultivate 150 hectares of vineyards in 11 municipalities, from Bolzano to south of Bressanone. Every year to come, Cantina Valle Isarco produces 950 thousand bottles, representing 14 varieties, for a total of 29 labels where the flagship is represented by the Aristos selection and the Sabiona limited editions of Kerner and Sylvaner, just 3 thousand bottles per year per variety. But if you broaden your perspective, you discover the “white” soul of the Alto Adige cooperative, which dedicates 98% of its production to white wines, where Kerner stands out alongside Sylvaner, Grüner Veltliner, Gewürztraminer and Müller Thurgau.
The meeting between Cantina Valle Isarco and Riccardo Cotarella was one that, during the first five years of collaboration, a period in which the company invested over 2 million euros to improve its structure and technologies, has borne great fruit.
“I cannot say what I have given to Valle Isarco, this experience is certainly giving me a lot”, underlines the winemaker. “In no other cooperative reality have I found such harmony between members and the winery as here, as well as the desire to always do more and better”.
Since his arrival at Cantina Valle Isarco, Cotarella has launched four important projects, starting with the Metodo Classico 100% Sylvaner Pas Dosé Aristos Zero; the flagship cuvée Adamantis, a blend of Sylvaner, Grüner Veltliner, Pinot Grigio and Kerner specifically designed to enhance the varieties that best represent the extreme and heroic viticulture of one of Europe’s most suitable areas for the production of white wines; the Pinot Noir Aristos, a one-of-a-kind, a signature product that demonstrates how Valle Isarco can interpret the most connoisseur-friendly wine there is in a very convincing way; the Kerner Granit 960, just one thousand bottles of a wine that has aged in an unprecedented 960-liter tank made from a single block of granite extracted from the mountains of the valley.
But how much the wines of the cooperative reality of this vocated corner of Alto Adige have gained in finesse and contemporaneity can be understood perfectly both by tasting one of the novelties signed by Cotarella, that Pinot Noir Aristos which confirms itself as a Pinot Nero that knows how to distinguish itself, full expression of a mountain land that makes it unique for elegance and drinkability, and two classics like Kerner and Sylvaner Aristos, the first a champion of power and minerality, with enormous aging potential, the second more delicate and fruity.
“Kerner, Sylvaner, and Pinot Noir itself are differently native vines for Cantina Valle Isarco because, despite not being born here, it is in this valley that they have found one of their best expressions, thanks to precise and punctual viticulture, favorable climatic conditions and the predisposition of Alto Adige farmers to always aim for excellence,” concludes Cotarella.
This is also confirmed by the numerous awards received by the three labels over the last few years, in which the recognitions, including international ones, that the different vintages have been able to line up stand out:
- Aristos Kerner 2023: Cinque Grappoli Bibenda 2025; Aristos Kerner 2022: Tre Bicchieri Gambero Rosso 2024 and Cinque Grappoli Bibenda 2024; Aristos Kerner 2021: 4 vines Ais 2023, Five Grapes Bibenda 2023 and Three Glasses Gambero Rosso 2023.
- Aristos Sylvaner 2023: 4 screws Ais 2025; Aristos Sylvaner 2022: 4 screws Ais 2024; Aristos Sylvaner 2021: Silver Medal Decanter World Wine Awards 2023.
- Aristos Pinot Noir 2021: Silver Medal Decanter World Wine Awards 2024
