There is a corner of Trentino where the vine climbs where it would seem impossible. This is the Val di Cembra, one of Italy’s most beautiful wine landscapes and one of the most concrete examples of heroic viticulture in the country: dizzying slopes, over seven hundred kilometers of dry-stone walls, terraces carved into porphyry rock, that “red gold” that has shaped the valley’s economic history. Here works Tenuta Gottardi, a small family estate that has made this harsh land its signature.
It is no coincidence that one of the most important accolades of the latest Vinitaly comes from right here. Gottardi took home the title of “Winery of the Year – Gran Vinitaly 2026.”
We tasted their Trento DOC Posad’Or Brut, which confirmed once again how this style is today one of the most convincing Metodo Classico expressions Italy can offer, and this interpretation by Tenuta Gottardi is clear proof of it.
Trentino, in fact, has found in this style its natural habitat, and the Val di Cembra is perhaps its most extreme and fascinating interpretation. Here, altitude (the vineyards sit at around 600 meters) is not an affectation, but a factor that changes everything. In an era marked by global warming, elevation becomes an insurance policy for freshness: it preserves acidity, keeps tension high, extends the grapes’ ripening time. It’s the secret that allows a 100% Chardonnay to retain nerve and drive even in warm vintages.
In the glass, all of this comes through. Forty-eight months on the lees leave their mark. The nose opens on crisp citrus, cedar, lemon zest, and white-fleshed fruit, russet apple and pear, before turning to deeper notes of bread crust, yeast and almond, with that toasted trail reminiscent of freshly baked pastry. Underneath runs a mineral, almost stony vein, which seems to tell the story of the porphyry it comes from. On the palate it is taut, vertical, lively: acidity sets the rhythm, the mousse is fine and creamy, sapidity carries through to a long, citrusy finish. This is not a soft, accommodating Metodo Classico. It’s a mountain wine, straight, precise, with an energy that immediately invites the next sip.
At the table, Posad’Or calls for lightness and sapidity. We paired it, in this scorching summer, with a seafood crudité starter, and it was a delight. The wine’s taut freshness and creamy mousse cleansed the palate from the iodine-tinged sweetness of the shellfish and raw fish, while its citrusy, mineral drive enhanced their purity without ever overpowering it. The perfect match for summer evenings, when you’re looking for a sip that refreshes and has something to say at the same time.
Company Profile
In Cembra, in Trentino, the Gottardi family has passed down its love for heroic mountain viticulture for generations. For their grandparents, the land was the only source of sustenance, a bond of sacrifice and dedication to a rugged territory now recognised as one of Italy’s historic Rural Landscapes. Their sons combined vine cultivation with porphyry quarrying, the valley’s “red gold,” and this union between wine and porphyry remains the soul of the family. Over 700 kilometres of dry stone walls hold up the steep slopes that descend toward the Avisio stream, spanning drops of up to 600 metres. With tenacity and pride, Franco and Carlo founded Tenuta Gottardi, a project that joins these farming roots to a renewed pursuit of quality, producing wines and sparkling wines that capture the strength and beauty of this land.
TENUTA GOTTARDI
Via Carraia, 2138034 Cembra Lisignago
info@tenutagottardi.it – 334 2731962
https://tenutagottardi.it
