Since 2007, Andi Sölva has made approximately eight thousand bottles per year from his personally managed Lake Caldaro estate — six wines whose names are Latin words for the soil they come from: Sea (Kalterersee), Salis (salt/Sauvignon), Arena (sand/Schiava-Lagrein), Lapis (stone/Pinot Blanc), Hohenberg Riesling, and Pinot Bianco. 8,000 bottles. Personal management. Latin names. Available through UniqueWines.
Individual grape attention; ideal ripeness only; personal independence
The estate's history began in 2005, when Andi Sölva took over the reins of the family winery. Always committed to a strong spirit of independence, he began winemaking on his own in 2007, driven by the desire to enhance — in his own way — the uniqueness and variety of the lands that encompass Lake Caldaro. A strong passion leads him to carefully follow each grape grain on its ripening journey, with full respect for nature and its rhythms, without ever neglecting the main objective: quality.
The Andi Sölva estate is a small facility where many activities are carried out directly by the owner himself, from vine care to careful manual selection. For this reason, production is limited to approximately eight thousand bottles — a constraint that ensures an intensity of personal attention that larger operations cannot match. The estate produces exclusively great wines, made only after grapes have reached their ideal level of ripeness.
SEA is the estate's Kalterersee Klassisch DOC — not vinified in purity but traditionally from different grape varieties, giving more complexity. The historic plots are located above Lake Caldaro in the areas called Pulvernoa, Panditsch, and Palurisch at approximately 300-350 metres above sea level, in mostly very old vineyards of 50 to 100 years of age. Grape variety: mixed with Schiava Grossa, Schiava Gentile, and 9% Lagrein. Ripe grapes harvested in two shifts, vinified in steel and wooden vat, aged in Tonneaux sur lie. A particular wine of typicality where elegance and finesse are not lacking.
SÜDTIROLER WEISSER BURGUNDER DOC (Pinot Bianco) comes from vineyards at 550 metres above sea level north of Lake Caldaro in the Malga area, on calcareous gravel ground. Maturation and ageing on fine lees in 10 hl wooden barrels and barriques until bottling. Light straw yellow with greenish highlights and fine aromas of ripe apples, pears, and walnuts.
HOHENBERG RIESLING is produced from volcanic subsoil — a generally poor soil, water-permeable, and easily warmable. The result: Riesling with mineral, almost powdery notes. Yellow recalling white gold with greenish hues; fruity bouquet of peach and apricot; typical Riesling acidity with long persistence.
SALIS (from the Latin for salt) is the estate's Sauvignon Blanc — the name reflecting the unmistakable minerality of the prevailing soil structure. 100% Sauvignon, complex on both nose and palate; up to 70% aged in 500-litre wooden barrels, remainder in steel for almost a year, followed by six months in bottle.
ARENA (from the Latin for sand) is the estate's red blend — composed of almost 100% Schiava with up to 2% Lagrein, from steep permeable sandy and clayey soil. Only the best small grapes, sometimes requiring four passes through the vineyard. LAPIS (from the Latin for stone) is the estate's Pinot Blanc — strength, minerality, structure, and long ageing potential, almost a year in 500-litre wooden barrels plus six months in bottle. Available through UniqueWines.
