Pinot Nero Barthenau Hofstätter 2017

Pinot Nero Barthenau Vigna San Urbano faithfully reveals the potential inherent in one of the finest cru to produce world-beating Pinot Nero. It is located in the heart of the vineyard surrounding the Barthenau manor house close to the hamlet of Mazon, where some of the Pinot Nero vines here are over 65 years old. The grapes are harvested in small crates to ensure they arrive at the winery completely intact. Most the grapes are de-stemmed and lightly crushed, leaving around 25% whole and unbruised. The berries, whole clusters and juice are allowed to steep at cool temperatures for one day to extract the maximum of varietal aromas. During the period of fermentation the solid grape parts are kept constantly submerged in the new wine. The maturation in oak casks takes place in two phases. The young wine is kept in small oak casks for 12 months, after which a uniform blend is made. The wine is subsequently matured in one large cask for 8 months, after which it is filled and matured in bottle for further 8 months in the cellars of the Barthenau manor house before release. A superb Pinot Nero, whose concentration is clearly heralded by its dark ruby colour. Initially it seems somewhat closed on the nose, but then opens up in the glass to reveal its authentic, noble Pinot Nero origins. The aroma reminiscent of sour cherry and raspberry is enhanced by a delicate hint of vanilla and spice. On the palate it shows excellent harmony with elegant acidity, well-integrated sweet tannins and enormous concentration of aromas. Contains sulphites. Produced by WEINGUT J. HOFSTÄTTER - Rathausplatz, 7 - 39040, Tramin (BZ) - Alto Adige - Italy.

The producer

For a century, the name Hofstatter has been associated by connoisseurs with a producer of excellent wines in Alto Adige. It was Josef Hofstatter who laid the foundations on which the company has been built. He was actually a blacksmith, but he also produced home-made wine for his wife, Maria. Producing home-made wine was, in fact, quite common at the time. His love of wine came from these origins. It was not long before he abandoned his profession to dedicate himself with passion, talent and common sense to wine-making. And so, before long Josef Hofstatter wines became famous in Italy and abroad with a client base that gets larger year by year. After the death of Josef in 1942, the company passed on to his descendant Konrad Oberhofer and his wife, Luise. Konrad Oberhofer was perfectly aware of the potential of the family's vines. He was one of the first in Alto Adige to begin harvesting and making-wine separately, vine by vine, and to put these wines on the market, not as an anonymous product, but as wine with different denominations (the "Crus"). In 1959 Konrad's daughter, Sieglinde, married the wine-maker Paolo Foradori, whose family had been successfully dedicated to wine-making at Mazon near Egna for decades. With this marriage the best vineyards in Bassa Atesina were united. Termeno and Mazon therefore became the foundations on which, today more than ever, the company and the family stand. Management of the vineyards and the cellars has now been passed on to the fourth generation, Martin Foradori, whose young man's impulses and desire for innovation draw on nearly a century of experience.

Best with

Red meats, venison and game, and mild cheeses.

How to serve it

The wine should be served at 18 degrees centigrade in clear, transparent crystal goblets.

How to keep

If kept well, this wine has an average conservation period of seven to ten years. The bottles should be laid horizontally in a cool, dark, humid wine-cellar.