Last Thursday Fisar Firenze had organized a dinner at the restaurant La Ménagére in the center of Florence. The wines for the evening were from the producer Brunnenhof in the locality Mazzon in Alto Adige. Mazzon is well-known for being a wine production area in the town district Neumarkt (Egna in Italian) in South Tyrol. The owner himself, Kurt Rottensteiner, was present and described his wines for us. Read on to find out more about his wines…
Tuscany meets Alto Adige
Actually, I had not planned to attend the dinner as I had a tough weekend ahead of me and thought it would be too much. However, when I the day before saw that there was still some places available, I decided at once to go. Since I love the wines from Alto Adige, I just could not miss this evening. Of course, I was very curious to taste the wines of Brunnenhof Mazzon.
Sommelier Fisar al lavoro al @lamenagerefi #sceglifisar @FISARsommelier @prato_fisar pic.twitter.com/TZqy0GWGwm
— Fisar Firenze (@fisarfirenze) March 17, 2016
(Video from the Fisar Firenze Twitter account)
We were at a restaurant in Florence, Tuscany, as mentioned above enjoying a dinner paired with wines from Alto Adige. Arriving there, the Fisar Firenze sommeliers and soon-to-be sommeliers were opening and preparing the wines that were going to be served during the evening. Here it is Samuele Palandri in action, helping one of the aspiring sommeliers.
The evening started with the Eva Incrocio Manzoni Bianco IGT 2014. Manzoni Bianco is a crossbreed between Riesling and Pinot Blanc which was carried out in the 1930s. This wine from Brunnenhof has been dedicated to their daughter Eva. It is a fruity wine with a clear aroma of green apples stemming from the Pinot Blanc, as well as peaches and other white fruit. It has a fresh and crisp taste which turns into a finish of citrus fruits. This wine paired well with the starter Uovo Poché, crema di zucca, porto e briciole di pane.
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A Gewurztraminer worth its name
With the first course Assaggio di gnocchi arrostiti, cacio, pepe, limone, mela verde e cous cous fritto we had the Gewurztraminer Alto Adige DOC 2014 and Gewurztraminer Alto Adige DOC 2010. This is a fabulous wine with a distinct and a unique character. It is a wine with a golden hue and notes of roses, lavender, and vanilla. It also has hints of citrus fruits as well as more spicy notes, and a good acidity. It is a well structured and complex wine. In the 2010 vintage, you can feel more distinctively that a third of the wine has been fermented in oak barrels as it has a lightly smoked flavor. In the article, Gewürztraminer 2012 e 2011. Una comparazione alla ricerca dell’equilibrio vitale in Intravino, the author Andrea Gori has characterized the 2011 version of this wine as fresh and mineral with an elegant finish.
From Pinot Noir to Lagrein
There were two different second courses on the menu: Assaggio di maialino, patata croccante, cardo e salsa dolce/forte and Assaggio guancia di manzo all’olio extravergine, sedanorapa arrostito, pere e marsala. These delicious second courses on the basis of pork and beef were paired with a Pinot Nero Alto Adige DOC Riserva 2012 and a Lagrein Alto Adige DOC 2013. Then in between Brunnenhof had added a Pinot Nero Alto Adige DOC Riserva 2007. Brunnenhof states that the Pinot Noir is their most important wine, even though they produce a very impressive Gewurztraminer. This Pinot Nero Riserva has notes of strawberries and raspberries which is sort of the trademark of the wine. It also has hints of under vegetation, a more spicy note, such as musk and ginger, and toasted aromas due to the aging in oak barrels. The tannins are elegant. It is aged for 1 year in 500 l barrels and after that for 8-10 months in large oak barrels.
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Lagrein is a native grape variety in Alto Adige. The Lagrein wine from Brunnenhof has an intense ruby red color. The predominant notes are of black currant and blackberry, as well as a slight hint of flowers and soil. It is a fresh and full-bodied wine. The Lagrein from Brunnenhof is aged for about a year in oak barrels.
Some concluding notes
Brunnenhof is a historic winery, the Rottensteiner family has been producing Pinot Noir wine for more than 100 years, first in Bolzano and later on since 1999 in Mazzon. They are attentive to details and the local traditions for wine production. One can clearly sense this in their wines which transmit the unique traits of the area and the soil. Last autumn, we went with Fisar Firenze on a weekend wine tour to Alto Adige but we did not visit Brunnenhof. Therefore, it was very interesting to finally be able to taste their wines. And if you still have not tried any of their wines, I can highly recommend that you order their Gewurztraminer or Pinot Noir. Or why not pay a visit to Brunnenhof Mazzon…
Written by Katarina Andersson.
Looks like a wonderful event and I enjoy, though not often enough, the wines from this region.
Thanks Jen, yes, it was. The Alto Adige wines are some of my favourites.:-)
Oh, my, Katarina–this had my mouth watering! Would love to try these lovely sounding wines!
Thanks Susan, let’s see if I can find out if they are available in the US.
As always, inspiring, mouth-watering & has me wishing I could drink more wine than my 1 occasional glass.
Thanks Roslyn, 1 glass is more than enough. Hope you try different wines on the occasions you do have a glass.:-)
Another great inside look at what sounds like a wonderful and committed winery family. Although I do not drink at all, this sounds like the kind of adventure anyone visiting Tuscany would thoroughly enjoy!
Thanks Beverley, as always, for your nice comments.
Hi Katarina 🙂
Thanks for sharing your wonderful dining and wine tasting experience! Great pictures too! Awesome post!
The meals sound delicious. You are making my mouth water. I am going to share this with my cousins in Florence area. Gewurztraminer is my husband’s favorite. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Sabrina, nice that you liked to read about the dinner and the wines. Cool that you have cousins around here. 🙂
Each time I read your blog I find a new wine I want to drink. I am also very jealous of all the adventures you have. One day I might show up on your doorstep.
Well you should show up here Christy, no problem. 🙂
I really know very little about wines, but I feel that I can learn more through your experiences. You make it seem less overwhelming.
Thanks Joyce, that’s nice that you liked my article. Feel free to ask anything you would like to know more about.
Excited for my trip to Italy to experience much of what you write about..firsthand. Very inspiring and mouth watering.
Thanks Teresa, let me know if you need other info etc. 🙂
The Gewurztraminer sounds like just my style. I’ll have to see if I can find it locally. Thanks for the tip!
Great Jackie, you should be able to find some variant of Gewurztraminer.
The meal sounds divine. I visited a great winery in Tuscany during my trip; however, I forgot the name of both the winery and the wine I purchased for myself and gifts. Darn.
Thanks Rachel, it was a great dinner. And if you remember the winery you visited let me know, am curious.
You always have such interesting insights to share!
Since interesting stuff and wow.. you are featured in a magazine too… great job.. still loving the new header. Oh, need to shorten your click to tweets, at least the first one I had to shorten when tweeting.
Thanks Kristen, and will shorten to click to tweets…sorry…
Katarina, are we able to easily find these wines in the states? It would be great to give as gifts and include your information with the bottle.
Actually Lisa, gfor the moment I think it is difficult to find Brunnenhof Mazzon wines in the states. Will check that out better though. 🙂
This is the first time I’ve seen your blog, and I enjoyed your post a lot! I don’t drink a lot of wine, but wow! do you make these sound great! Also, I want to stay tuned-in, because every now and again, I enjoy buying a nice bottle of wine as gifts!
This looks great. I can’t wait to make it to Italy and try some good food and good wine. In the meantime, I went to the Ft Worth Food & Wine Festival this past weekend. I had some great wines there. It will do for now.
Sounds great with Ft Worth and a Wine & Food Festival. Still I need to try some Texan wine.
Good thing it’s dinner because you just made me hungry…again! I absolutely LOVE that you included video in this post. Maybe you can video one of your visits to a vineyard/winery and include it in a blog? I’d love to see the landscape and location–it would feel as if I were there in person. As always, I enjoy your descriptive writing and live vicariously through you!
Thanks Meghan, yes, to do more video is my plan. So the next time I visit a winery I will try. And if not possible to do a live FB or other video to do a normal one for a blog post.