Pitzner

Second generation winemakers Markus and Thomas Puff are young, hip, and full of hop... so rather appropriately, their sub-alpine wines, while serious, have plenty of moxie. As one prime example, their "Buchsenoffner' white cuvee is an amazing, high altitude creation. An endless array of aromas - from kumquat to petrichor - greet the nose, and the palate might just stop you in your tracks with its lush, artisanal mouth feel and long, lemony, DNA dance of a finish. And yet, the two brothers elect to put it in a bottle with a bold, architectural font and an orange screw cap. We love it! Looking at their website, their omnipresent joie de vivre continues: they have openly nicknamed this wine “the cheeky one” and the name on the bottle, "Buchsenoffner", itself translates roughly to “can opener” (presumably as this wine is their favorite way to begin an evening). In our book, this coexistence of stratospheric winemaking and down-to-earth sense of humor and humility makes for a fantastic one-two punch.

Located just outside Bolzano in the town of Cornedo all'Isarco, their small Südtirol estate weighs in at just 5 hectares, with non-contiguous vines growing on both sides of the Iscarus River. The altitude is high (about 400 meters), the soils sandy moraine, and the view spectacular. From their cellar - part of which is 700 years old - you can enjoy a wide open view of the valley below. "Between the two, this place holds a lot of emotional power", says Thomas. With a total annual production between 3500 and 4000 cases, Markus and Thomas do virtually everything themselves on their estate. When asked whether they are their own enologists, we get a sly grin in response: "We do a lot of barrel tastings with friends." Despite the lack of pretense, these two brothers are keenly intuitive in both field and cellar and appear to be on the cusp of something truly spectacular. Their father, Martin, who purchased the vineyard in the 1970s and raised his sons to be the farmers they are today, must certainly be as happy as he is proud.