Castel Katzenzungen and the Versoaln Vine: A Living Testament to Viticultural Heritage
Castel Katzenzungen and the Versoaln Vine: A Living Testament to Viticultural Heritage, Alto Adige, Italy
Tucked into the dramatic slopes of the Dolomite mountain range—a UNESCO World Heritage site—Castel Katzenzungen rises above the village of Prissiano in South Tyrol. This romantic Renaissance castle, dating back to 1244, offers more than historic beauty: it safeguards one of the oldest and most extraordinary grapevines in the world.
At the foot of the castle, on a north-facing slope that gently descends toward the Prissian stream, grows a single, sprawling vine known as Versoaln. It emerges from the southern wall of a small, rectangular stone structure—believed to have once housed the castle’s wine press (Torggl)—and just above the rootstock, the ancient vine divides into four thick trunks with circumferences ranging from 0.5 to 0.8 metres.
The story of the Versoaln vine is one of both legend and science. South Tyrolean historian Karl Theodor Hoeniger described it as an indigenous variety of the Vinschgau Valley, possibly introduced from France and associated with Versailles—or perhaps derived from the local dialect word verdolen, meaning “green.” Historical records trace its cultivation in South Tyrol back to at least 1490, when it appeared in an estate inventory of the Tegernsee Monastery. By the 16th to 18th centuries, it was regularly cited in tax registers and legal documents as one of the key varieties grown in the Adige Valley. But like most traditional cultivars in the region, it nearly vanished in the late 19th century with the arrival of phylloxera, which led to the widespread replanting of vineyards on American rootstocks.
Remarkably, the vine at Katzenzungen survived—and not only that, it remains self-rooted, not grafted, making it an extraordinary living specimen. In 2004, a scientific analysis commissioned by the Laimburg Research Centre and conducted by dendrochronologist Prof. Martin Worbes (University of Göttingen) dated the vine to over 350 years old, placing it among the oldest living grapevines on earth. DNA profiling confirmed its uniqueness: the vine does not match any currently registered variety, though it shows some resemblance to Schiava Rossa. Its medium-ripening grapes yield a vibrant white wine with aromas of apple and apricot, fresh acidity, and 12–13% alcohol.
In good vintages, the vine produces up to 300 kg of grapes, vinified into a wine aptly named Versoaln. Only 150 to 300 numbered bottles are produced each year—a rare, eloquent expression of ancient terroir and resilience. The vine is cultivated biodynamically, continuing a centuries-old relationship with the land.
Castel Katzenzungen was purchased by Josef Pobitzer in 1978 and restored with care by his son Ernst, who continues to preserve its heritage. In 2024, the ancient vine returned fully to the stewardship of the Pobitzer family, with a new vintage set to be bottled in 2025 and released in 2026.
The commitment to sustainable viticulture runs deep in the family. Ernst’s daughter, Caroline Pobitzer, and her husband, Jan Hendrik Erbach, also champion biodynamics at their estate, Pian dell’Orino in Montalcino. Yet it is here in South Tyrol, at Katzenzungen, that the threads of past and present are most vividly entwined—where a single ancient vine continues to tell the evolving story of Alpine winemaking through time.
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