Completer Annatina Pelizzatti, Jenins, AOC Graubünden 2023, 75 cl.

History

Annatina Pelizzatti got caught up in the Completer renaissance and planted 25 acres below the Old Gate in Jenins a few years ago with 1000 cuttings from Plantahof. "It's an exciting, varied variety. A challenge!" Which she wants to take on together with her daughter Laura, a trained vintner.

You can leave the grapes hanging on the vine, even the birds don't eat them, they say about the original Graubünden variety. Completer is one of the oldest grape varieties grown in Switzerland. The term "Completorium wine" first appeared in 1321 in a Latin document of the cathedral chapter of Chur Cathedral.

However, Completer is also considered a difficult variety. One can vividly imagine how the monks once felt when they were served this wine as a nightcap at the Complet, the night prayer. The wine must lie in the barrel for years before the acidity has combined with fruit and minerals, substance and aromas. With their thin skin, the grapes are susceptible to rot. Completer is capricious: either no grapes at all or then too many. Vine-like entwined like the wild vine, the branches brittle, early flowering, late harvest ... actually only disadvantages. But the winegrowers agree: "This grape variety has a great future.