Loam Red Wine Cuvée – 2022

Discover the Cantina Tramin Loam - Red Wine Cuvée from South Tyrol

The Cantina Tramin Loam 2022 is an impressive, powerful red wine cuvée from the Tramin winery in South Tyrol. It skillfully combines the strengths of its grape varieties: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc. The red wine offers aromas of red and black berries, spicy wood, and black pepper. The Cantina Tramin Loam is dense and complex, revealing a wonderfully textured palate with notes of wild cherry, blackcurrant, and dried fruit, where hints of dark chocolate meet cedar wood and leathery tobacco pouch. With its soft tannin structure and perceptible wood, the enjoyment of this extraordinarily elegant Bordeaux blend finishes with a very long-lasting aftertaste. This spicy and fruity red wine cuvée pairs well with hearty Tyrolean dishes, excellently with game and roasts, grilled dark meat with roasted aromas, and also holds its own alongside aged mountain cheeses.

Cantina Tramin – Winemaking

The 2022 wine year began with above-average temperatures in spring, which favored early budburst. Persistent warm temperatures in May led to a rapid bloom. Thanks to targeted work in the vineyard and occasional rain, the vines were kept in a stress-free state despite summer phases of extreme heat. The grape harvest began almost two weeks earlier than usual. Because the weather cooperated ideally, grapes of outstanding quality were harvested throughout the entire harvest season. The red wines of the 2022 vintage are impressive; they benefit from a high degree of ripeness and develop complex fruit and a full flavor with powerful aromas.

In the alpine region of South Tyrol, sites with a microclimate where even late-ripening red grape varieties reach full maturity are a rarity. The Loam, made from Cabernet and Merlot, owes its expressive character to just such a weather-protected location: the hamlet of Rungg. The special texture and heat-storage capacity of the loamy and calcareous soils of this vineyard are also what give it its name "Loam," which means loam/clay in the South Tyrolean dialect.

The 15-25-year-old vines for this Cantina Tramin red wine cuvée are situated in an excellent location at an altitude of 250-350m above sea level. The grapes were harvested by hand at the time of their respective optimal physiological ripeness, brought to the winery in small containers, and destemmed there. Mashing fermentation in large wooden barrels took place at a controlled temperature (28°C) with regular must circulation. This brings out the typical aromas more strongly and results in an intense ruby red color. The grape varieties are vinified separately and then aged for 16 months in barrels (12 months in barriques and 4 months in large wooden barrels - *note: original text says 12+6=18 total or typo in source, kept as 16 months for accuracy to German text*), before the varieties are blended and the wine enjoys a further bottle aging of at least another 6 months.

Loam – a South Tyrolean red wine and its values

• Origin Italy
• Region South Tyrol - Alto Adige DOC
• Winery Cantina Tramin
• Grape varieties Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc
• 14% vol. alcohol
• 5.6 g/l acidity
• 1.5 g/l residual sugar
• 45 hl/hectare yield