Lagrein

Lagrein grapes growing in New Zealand.
Colour	Red
Major regions	Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
Notable wines	Lagrein Scuro, Lagrein Dunkel, Lagrein Rosato, Lagrein Kretzer

Lagrein (pronounced lah-GRAH’EEN, lah-GRINE or lah-GRI’NE)^[1] is a red wine grape variety native to the valleys of South Tyrol, northern Italy. Along with Marzemino, it is a descendant of Teroldego, and related to Syrah, Pinot noir and Dureza.^[2]

The name suggests its origins lie in the Lagarina valley of Trentino. It was mentioned as early as in the 17th century, in records of the Muri Abbey near Bolzano.^[3]

The variety is ferociously vigorous, with drooping canes and a tendency to grow lateral shoots, making canopy management a key issue in cooler areas. It is a generous yielding variety, so overcropping can also be a problem. In the Peter May/Victoria cultivar at least, the variety is deeply coloured, tannic and has very good acidity at ripeness. Unusually, even the free run juice is tannic.

Lagrein produces wine which has high acidity and low pH, and is also highly tannic, which is why blending with less tannic varietals works so well. Eric Asimov says Lagrein produces "congenial, straightforward wines that can be deliciously plummy, earthy and chewy, dark and full-bodied but not heavy, with a pronounced minerally edge."^[1]

As a single varietal wine, Lagrein can be extremely astringent. To manage this, winemakers give the wine long periods of barrel maturation (>18 months) or for younger fresher wines, pre-fine the juice to remove tannins before fermentation. Lagrein produces a very deep yet intense red color in wine, with notable hues of purple which can be seen especially in the macerated juice. The variety typically shows a rich berry-fruit mid palate, savoury tobacco/leather/mushroom notes and some sour cherry astringency on the finish.^{[citation needed]}

Production[link]

Cultivation of Lagrein in South Tyrol usually results in the tannic red wines Lagrein Scuro, or Lagrein Dunkel, or the fragrant rosé wines Lagrein Rosato, or Lagrein Kretzer.^[3] In recent years, winemaking techniques have changed, with shortened maceration periods and used oak to achieve less aggressive flavours.^[3]

Outside Italy’s South Tyrol region, the variety is rare to the point of obscurity. In Australia it is limited to some 15 producers,^[4] mostly in the cooler parts of the south-eastern states, although most are still at the trial-block stage and are yet to release wines labelled as Lagrein or as Lagrein blends. There are some plantings of the vine in California as well, mostly in small vineyards or blocks; almost all this production goes to blending. There is an additional production vineyard in the Umpqua Valley AVA which has 5 acres (2.0 ha) planted.^[5]

Lagrein was pioneered in Australia by Peter May of Melbourne University’s Burnley Campus who discovered a couple of vines in the "vine library" of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation at Merbein in northeast Victoria, and in part influenced by research by Richard Smart and Peter Dry, planted the variety in his garden-sized vineyard at Kyneton in 1988.^[6] He later provided cuttings and advice to a number of Victorian producers.

Producers in South Australia have propagated cuttings from mother vines grown in the South Australian Government facility at Nuriootpa, and it is possible that these are a different cultivar from that grown by Peter May in Victoria. From the small number of producers and the descriptions of plantings available on their respective websites, the total area of Lagrein cultivated in Australia is likely to be less than 50 hectares (120 acres), compared with approximately 43,000 hectares (110,000 acres) of Shiraz/Syrah.^[7]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Detailed info on Lagrein from lagrein.it (PDF)

Johannes Maria Staud (b. Innsbruck, 17 August 1974) is an Austrian composer.

Biography[link]

Staud studied with, amongst others, Brian Ferneyhough and Michael Jarrell. He gained a publishing contract with Universal Edition in 2000, and since then has won numerous prizes, including a special music prize of the Austrian Republic (2001),^[1] the composition award of the Salzburg Easter Festival (2002)^[1] and the Paul Hindemith prize of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (2009).^[1] His Apeiron. Music for Large Orchestra was premiered by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle in 2005, and his Segue. Music for Violoncello and Orchestra was performed by Heinrich Schiff and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Daniel Barenboim at the opening concert of the 2006 Salzburg Festival.

Works[link]

Piano[link]

• Hommage à Bartók I (1994)
• Hommage à Bartók II (1994)
• Bewegungen (1996)
• Go Ahead (2004)
• Peras (2005)

Solos[link]

• Black Moon pour clarinette basse (1998)
• Towards a Brighter Hue pour violon (2004)
• Portugal pour percussions (2006)

Chamber music[link]

• Dichotomie for string quartet (1997/98)
• Esquisse retouchée (Incipit 2) for trombone (with Bass-Drum) (2002)
• Configurations / Reflet for 8 players (2002)
• Sydenham Music pour flute, viola and harp (2007)
• Für Bálint András Varga 10 miniatures for violin, cello and piano (2007)
• Lagrein for violin, clarinet, cello and piano (2008)

Orchestra[link]

• ...gleichsam als ob... for orchestra (1999/2000)
• A map is not the territory for large ensemble (2001)
• Berenice. Suite 1 for ensemble and tape (2004)
• Berenice. Suite 2 for ensemble (2004)
• Apeiron for large orchestra (2005)
• On Comparative Meteorology for orchestra (new version) (2010)
• Contrebande (On Comparative Meteorology II) (2010)
• Tondo Preludio for orchestra (2010)
• Chant d'amour variation on miniature n. 9 from Für Bálint András Varga. 10 Miniaturen für Klaviertrio (2007–2009) for ensemble (2010)

Concertos[link]

• Incipit for alto trombone and 5 instruments (2000)
• Polygon for piano and orchestra (2002)
• Incipit III (Esquisse retouchée II) for trombone, string orchestra , 2 horns and percussion (2005)
• Violent Incidents (Hommage à Bruce Nauman) for saxophone, wind ensemble and percussion (2005/2006)
• One Movement and Five Miniatures for harpsichord, live-electronics and ensemble (2006/2007, new version 2009)
• Im Lichte for 2 pianos and orchestra (2007)
• Segue for cello and orchestra (new version) (2008)
• Über trügerische Stadtpläne und die Versuchungen der Winternächte (Dichotomie II) for string quartet and orchestra (2008/2009)

Vocal works[link]

• Die Ebene (after texts by Hans Arp) for speaker, horn, 2 trombones, 2 percussionnists, piano, 2 cellos and double bass (1997)
• Vielleicht zunächst wirklich nur 6 miniatures for soprano and 6 instruments (1999)
• der kleinste abstand zwischen zwei gegenständen (after visuals texts by Heinz Gappmayr) for 16 voices a cappella (1999)
• Berenice. Lied vom Verschwinden (text by Durs Grünbein after Edgar Allan Poe) for soprano, small ensemble and tape (2003)
• Arie am Rand alter Bücher for baryton, piano, bamboo chimes and tape (2005)

Opera[link]

• Berenice (text by Durs Grünbein, after Edgar Allan Poe ; world premiere at the Munich Biennale 2004 ; Heidelberg 2005)

Discography[link]

• Johannes Maria STAUD, including A map is not the territory ; Bewegungen ; Polygon. Musik für Klavier und Orchester ; Black Moon ; Berenice. Lied vom Verschwinden, Marino Formenti (piano), Petra Hoffmann (soprano), Ernesto Molinari (bass clarinet), Thomas Larcher (piano), Klangforum Wien (Sylvain Cambreling), Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bertrand de Billy), CD KAIROS, 2003, n° 0012392KAI.

• Johannes Maria STAUD, Apeiron , including Apeiron ; Incipit III ; Towards a Brighter Hue ; Violent Incidents ; Peras. Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Sir Simon Rattle), WDR Symphony Orchestra (Lothar Zagrosek), Windkraft Tirol (Kasper de Roo), Marcus Weiss (saxophon), Uwe Dierksen (trombone), Marino Formenti (piano), Ernst Kovacic (violin), CD KAIROS, 2007, n° 0012672KAI.

Sources[link]

• Johannes Maria Staud biography and works on the UE website (publisher)
• Article on Staud in The Oberlin Review, February 29, 2008

Notes[link]

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