Riff is a négociant project that is independent of the Alois Lageder estate wines. This top-value Pinot Grigio reflects the expertise of acclaimed winegrower Alois Lageder, who selects the wines from vineyard sources in Italy’s northeastern “Tre Venezie” (Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and the Veneto)—acknowledged as one of Italy’s prime regions for quality white wines. A fifth generation winery owner and winemaker in the Alto Adige, Lageder’s long-standing credibility with winegrowers gives him access to some of the region’s best wines for these special selections.

Riff (German for reef) is produced from grapes grown in vineyards located on the slopes of the Alpine Dolomite foothills, abundant in the prized alluvial dolomite, a limestone madeof fossil deposits from an ancient ocean that covered the region 4.6million years ago. The riff label’s graphic design is a direct reference to the influence these ancient limestone fossils have on the wine’s character and style. The Tre Venezie region stretches from the majestic Alto Adige Dolomites to the Veneto’s serene lakes and farmland and Friuli’s Colliohills. This triumvirate’s geography and climate conditions range from cool at high altitudes to warm in the plains near the Adriatic Sea andalong the Po, Piave and Adige river valleys.

Grapes from the Friuli-Venezia Giulia give riff Pinot Grigio its aromatics, those from theVeneto give it body and texture and those from Trentino-Alto Adige provide steely intensity. Alois Lageder selects the wines on-site andexposes them to extended sur lie maturation during fermentation in stainless steel tanks to give the wines greater intensity and depth. Riff is blended and bottled at AloisLageder’s Löwengang winery.