Alois Lageder, Conus Lagrein Riserva, Alto Adige

Bright ruby red. Only 11% alcohol. The cherry aromas carry over onto the palate, with macerated red cherries, almost fizzy, some spicy notes and a long delicate schist finish.

Russk..again, now in a later vintage, I like the this producer's Lagrein: biodynamic, low intervention, low alcohol. Pleasant aromatics, less of the overt pepperiness I often find in Lagrein. Nice acidity and balance. Not as good on day 2. 90+ pts.

Lagrein is a rare grape and serendipitous find from when I was in Alto Adige in August. There are less than 500 hectares planted worldwide and my hotel was perched above at least one of them. Conus has three things I love: dense fruit, minimal intervention, and alcohol restraint. A good reference point would be Cabernet Sauvignon bottled from concrete instead of oak and picked early. It’s full bodied, aromatically expressive, flavorful, soft, supple, and pure. Plum, dark cherry, cocoa.

Acidic. Oh, not my style.

I really liked this wine and would love to try it again over a few years to watch the development. The wine is a dark red with purple hues. It has a rustic nose of blackfruits, brambles, and some spicy notes. Medium+ acid and tannin. Very enveloping and brooding wine. It has some characteristics that reminded me of Syrah and I suspect some of Syrah's usual tertiary notes will come forward over time.

"In the '80s when I started to promote Lagrein there was no market and now finally the time seems right to promote Lagrein. "It is related to Terlogado it is one of teh parents. And that is related to another and which is the parent of Syrah. So all of these grape varieties are related. The bunch, the oval shape of the berry, and then in the taste of the wines - earthy, spicy, leather, allot of anthocynians. It has …

This is the first time that I've seen this bottling. Fruit from Magreid, supposedly shows darker and more tannic than the Lindenberg. aromas suggest a reved up Barbera perhaps. Upto 1/3 new barrel I have read. dark berry fruit. some herb and spice to the palate. medium/- tannin to the palate. great balance for a lagrein. mouth-watering, but with the concentration of fruit on the palate to even that out. red licorice on the finish.