Franz Haas and the Beautiful Art of Making Pinot Noir Without Showing Off
Some Pinot Noirs demand enormous concentration, expensive barrels and a prestigious vineyard name before they are taken seriously. Franz Haas Pinot Nero 2018 has a more attractive proposition: elegance, genuine varietal character and the sort of freshness that makes a second glass considerably more tempting than the first.
Produced from vineyards scattered across the hills of Alto Adige, this is the estate’s regular Pinot Nero, not the more ambitious Schweizer or Pònkler selections. That distinction matters. It is a wine designed for pleasure rather than competition with Burgundy’s most expensive bottles, yet there is nothing superficial about its construction.
The 2018 vintage offers an appealing combination of ripe fruit, delicate spice and polished tannins. Eight years after the harvest, the wine has acquired a more mature personality without abandoning its characteristic Alpine energy.
At €23.90, it remains one of the more convincing ways to discover why Franz Haas became such an influential figure in the history of Italian Pinot Noir.
The Basics
- Producer: Franz Haas
- Wine: Pinot Nero
- Vintage: 2018
- Classification: Alto Adige DOC / Südtirol DOC
- Region: Alto Adige, Italy
- Production area: Hills around Montagna, Egna and Aldino
- Grape: 100% Pinot Noir
- Vineyard altitude: 350–900 metres
- Soils: Heterogeneous soils, including sandy, clay-rich and calcareous formations
- Vineyard yield: 35–40 hl/ha
- Fermentation: Open-top stainless steel tanks, with gentle punch-downs
- Ageing: 12 months in oak barriques, followed by several months in bottle
- Alcohol: 13% ABV
- Closure: Screw cap
- Bottle size: 750 ml
- Serving temperature: 15–16°C
- Production: 100,000 bottles
Franz Haas: The Man Who Took Italian Pinot Noir Personally
The history of Franz Haas begins in 1880, when the family established its winery in Montagna, a small village overlooking the Adige Valley.
For generations, the business passed from father to son, each inheriting not only the vineyards but also the name Franz. It is an unusual tradition, particularly considering how profoundly the seventh-generation Franz Haas would eventually change the estate’s reputation.
Franziskus Haas took control of the winery in the 1980s and developed an almost obsessive interest in Pinot Noir. At a time when much of Alto Adige was still consolidating its reputation for aromatic white wines, he recognised that the region’s mountain vineyards could offer exceptional conditions for this notoriously difficult red variety.
His approach was based on experimentation rather than romantic assumptions about terroir. Different clones, planting densities, vineyard exposures and elevations were studied to understand how Pinot Noir responded to the region’s complicated geography.
The results gradually pushed the estate towards increasingly elevated vineyards, anticipating a challenge that would become central to European viticulture: how to preserve freshness as growing seasons become warmer.
Haas was also willing to challenge conventional expectations about Italian red wine. He understood that Pinot Noir did not need excessive extraction or imposing tannins to establish its quality. Its appeal came from aromatic definition, texture and a delicate balance between ripeness and acidity.
His work helped establish Alto Adige among Italy’s most credible territories for the grape.
Franz Haas died in February 2022, leaving an estate whose identity had become inseparable from his dedication to Pinot Noir. The family continues his work, with the next generation maintaining the emphasis on vineyard selection and experimentation.
The regular Pinot Nero remains particularly important within the range. While Schweizer and Pònkler explore greater concentration and ageing potential, this bottling demonstrates the producer’s philosophy in a more accessible form.
It is also a reminder that a prestigious winery’s reputation should be judged by its everyday wines, not exclusively by its most expensive labels.
A Winery Where Even the Labels Have a Story
There is another reason Franz Haas bottles are immediately recognisable: their extraordinary labels.
The estate developed a longstanding relationship with Riccardo Schweizer, the Italian painter, sculptor and designer born in Mezzano in 1925. Schweizer worked in an artistic environment connected with major twentieth-century figures, including Picasso and Chagall, and created several designs that became defining features of the Haas range.
Maria Luisa Manna, Franz’s wife, introduced the artwork to the winery as a personal gift and a good-luck gesture.
The first design adopted was the label for Pinot Nero Schweizer, whose inaugural vintage was 1987 and which reached the market in 1990.
The black background, golden lettering and stylised figures subsequently became an unmistakable part of the estate’s visual identity.
There is a pleasing contrast between this exuberant graphic style and the wine itself.
The bottle is theatrical; the Pinot Noir is considerably more restrained.
And that is exactly how it should be. An elaborate label may attract attention, but it cannot compensate for an ordinary wine. Fortunately, Franz Haas has spent decades making Pinot Noir interesting enough to deserve the artwork.
Alto Adige: Why Pinot Noir Loves These Mountain Vineyards
Pinot Noir is exceptionally sensitive to its growing environment.
Its relatively thin skins make it vulnerable to disease and excessive heat, while its delicate aromatic compounds can become less distinctive when the grapes accumulate too much sugar.
In Alto Adige, altitude offers an important advantage.
The vineyards supplying Franz Haas Pinot Nero extend from approximately 350 to 900 metres above sea level, across locations with different exposures, soil compositions and temperature patterns.
This geographical diversity allows the estate to combine fruit from sites with complementary characteristics.
Lower vineyards can provide greater maturity and generosity, while higher elevations generally offer cooler ripening conditions and a stronger contribution to freshness.
The difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures is particularly important. Warm afternoons allow the grapes to ripen, while cooler nights help slow the loss of acidity.
The soils are equally varied. Sandy deposits, clay-rich formations and calcareous materials occur across the estate’s growing areas, influencing drainage, water availability and vine vigour.
None of these factors acts independently. The final character of the wine emerges from the relationship between plant material, elevation, exposure, vineyard management and the growing season.
The village of Mazzon, near Egna, is widely celebrated for its Pinot Noir, but the grape’s success in Alto Adige extends beyond this single hillside.
Our guide to the best Pinot Noirs of South Tyrol explores the region’s different interpretations, from approachable mountain reds to ambitious vineyard selections.
Franz Haas belongs among the producers who helped establish that diversity.
Pinot Noir: Delicacy Is Not a Weakness
Pinot Noir is one of the most demanding varieties in the wine world.
Unlike Cabernet Sauvignon, which can retain substantial tannic structure and colour in a wide range of climates, Pinot Noir is more vulnerable to excessive ripeness and aggressive extraction.
Its greatest wines rarely depend on brute force.
Instead, they achieve complexity through a combination of fine tannins, persistent acidity, layered aromas and a texture that can be deceptively delicate.
Burgundy remains the variety’s historical reference point, but the success of Pinot Noir in Alto Adige demonstrates that its potential is not limited to the Côte d’Or.
The mountain vineyards of northeastern Italy offer a different interpretation, frequently combining generous fruit with a lively acidic framework and relatively moderate alcohol.
The regular Franz Haas Pinot Nero reflects this approach particularly well.
It has enough substance to avoid feeling fragile, but its structure remains closer to the elegant side of the variety than to the concentrated, heavily wooded style sometimes encountered in ambitious Italian reds.
For a comparison within the same region, Gottardi Pinot Nero 2020 offers a more substantial interpretation of Alto Adige Pinot Noir, with greater emphasis on structure and oak maturation.
Haas pursues a more immediate relationship between fruit, acidity and drinking pleasure.
That difference is especially noticeable with a few years of bottle development.
The 2018 Vintage: A Warm Year That Required Precision
The 2018 growing season in Alto Adige presented producers with a mixture of favourable ripening conditions and considerable challenges.
A relatively wet spring encouraged vigorous vegetation and increased the need for careful vineyard management. Summer brought warm weather, while periods of rainfall required attention to grape health and harvest timing.
The season generally encouraged good maturity, although fruit quality and acidity varied according to elevation, exposure and individual vineyard conditions.
For Pinot Noir, those differences were particularly important.
Warm weather can encourage generous fruit, but excessive sugar accumulation risks producing wines that lose the delicacy associated with the variety. The challenge is harvesting with sufficient maturity while preserving freshness and avoiding unnecessarily high alcohol.
Franz Haas had an advantage in the diversity of his vineyard sites.
The estate’s range of elevations allowed grapes to ripen under different conditions, providing material for a balanced final blend.
The 2018 reflects a fairly generous vintage, with an appealing fruit profile and supple texture. Nevertheless, the wine retains the acidity needed to preserve its character.
At eight years from the harvest, it has entered a mature drinking phase. The original fruit has begun to develop more savoury nuances, while the oak and tannins have become increasingly integrated.
It is not a vintage that demands decades in the cellar, particularly in this regular bottling. Its principal attraction is the balance between maturity and freshness.
How Franz Haas Pinot Nero Is Made
The grapes are fermented in open-top stainless steel tanks, where the cap of skins is gently and repeatedly pushed back into the fermenting must.
This technique, known as pigeage, encourages contact between juice and skins, extracting colour, tannins and flavour compounds.
The degree of extraction is particularly important for Pinot Noir.
Too little contact can produce a thin, short-lived wine. Excessive extraction risks introducing coarse tannins and suppressing the grape’s natural elegance.
Haas uses controlled, relatively gentle handling to develop enough structure without turning Pinot Noir into a muscular red.
After fermentation, the wine matures for approximately twelve months in oak barriques before spending several additional months in bottle.
The oak contributes to textural development and tannin integration, while introducing a restrained spicy character.
It is certainly part of the wine’s personality, although the regular bottling does not possess the more pronounced barrel influence associated with some ambitious Pinot Noir selections.
The result is a polished, approachable red with enough structural definition to benefit from several years of cellaring.
The screw cap is another deliberate choice.
Franz Haas was an early advocate of alternative closures for quality wines, recognising the advantages of consistency and protection from cork taint. A screw cap does not prevent a wine from ageing; it controls oxygen ingress differently from a traditional cork.
For a delicate grape such as Pinot Noir, protecting aromatic precision is particularly important.
Tasting Notes
Colour: Bright ruby red, beginning to develop garnet reflections around the rim.
Bouquet: Red cherry, wild strawberry and raspberry introduce a fragrant, inviting nose. Dried rose petals, cinnamon and a delicate earthy note bring greater complexity, while a restrained suggestion of tobacco reflects the wine’s evolution. The oak is well integrated, leaving the fruit clearly in command.
Palate: Medium-bodied, supple and pleasantly energetic, with fine tannins and lively acidity. The fruit remains expressive, although it has acquired a softer, more mature character. A subtle savoury dimension gives the middle palate additional interest, while the texture stays elegant rather than concentrated.
Finish: Dry, balanced and moderately persistent, with gentle spice and a delicate tannic grip. The acidity gives the wine an attractive, refreshing conclusion.
Our Verdict
Franz Haas Pinot Nero 2018 is a convincing example of how much satisfaction a carefully made, relatively affordable Pinot Noir can offer.
Its greatest strength is balance.
The wine has genuine fruit character, attractive acidity and enough tannic definition to remain interesting without becoming demanding. Eight years of bottle development have softened its structure, giving the palate a more harmonious texture and introducing a restrained savoury complexity.
The oak is handled intelligently. It contributes a little spice and roundness without imposing an artificial sweetness or disguising the identity of the grape.
There are limitations, however.
The aromatic range is pleasant rather than exceptional, and the middle palate lacks the depth of the estate’s more ambitious selections. The finish is relatively modest, particularly when compared with Pinot Noirs from more concentrated vineyard sites.
The wine also has limited reason to remain in the cellar much longer. Its appeal depends on freshness and delicate fruit, and those qualities are more valuable now than the possibility of marginal additional complexity.
That does not diminish its achievement.
In fact, the regular Franz Haas Pinot Nero makes a more convincing argument for the producer’s philosophy than some expensive wines built around excessive ambition.
There is nothing pretentious about its structure. It offers a recognisable interpretation of Pinot Noir, with enough regional personality to distinguish it from a generic international red.
The comparison with Hofstätter Barthenau Vigna S. Urbano illustrates the difference between a carefully made everyday Pinot Noir and a more ambitious vineyard selection. The latter offers greater concentration and ageing potential, while Haas concentrates on immediate pleasure and a more modest structural profile.
Serve it at 15–16°C in a generous Burgundy glass. Avoid prolonged decanting; a little time in the glass is sufficient to reveal its mature aromatic nuances.
Price
€23.90.
Food Pairings
Paella, vitello tonnato, chicken curry, pulled pork, empanadas, hamburgers.
