Manincor’s red wines − an overview

Michael Graf Goëss-Enzenberg

Manincor goes its own way and always has done. This also applies to our red varieties, which we select with great care for the individual sites.

Our red wine sites are located in Caldaro except for the Rubatsch site in Siebeneich. In terms of altitude, they extend from our warmest sites at 220 meters above sea level on the shores of Lake Caldaro to the Mitterdorf district of Caldaro at 500 meters above sea level.

Our range includes the local varieties Schiava and Lagrein as well as the international varieties Pinot Noir, Merlot and the Cabernets, which were introduced here 200 years ago. In fact they were brought to Alto Adige by my ancestor (great-great-great-grandfather) Archduke John of Austria.

Under the influence of climate change, even our native varieties, such as Lagrein, are finding it too warm in some places. The grapes then tend to over-ripen; the skins become too thin and the fruit no longer tastes so good (to us).

For this reason, we started looking for alternatives some time ago and, amongst others, have planted Tempranillo on the warmest sites. This grape variety produces crisp fruit even in very warm conditions. It retains a thick, resilient skin and tastes excellent.

Two other red varieties in our range are Petit Verdot und Syrah.

Our Pinot Noir sites are located at 400 to 500 meters above sea level. The Mazzon site is particularly well suited; it lies on a slightly sloping south-facing plateau that is very well ventilated by the northerly wind in the morning and the Ora in the afternoon. This allows our Mason and Mason di Mason pinots to ripen in optimum health.

The lower-lying vineyards at Manincor and Panholzer offer ideal conditions for our Merlot and Cabernet cuvées.

Manincor’s red wines all have elegant, well balanced fruit flavors and a fine, ripe tannin structure.