W is for Wine Oenologist Fenja Hinz shares valuable tips

Four of the Eisacktal Valley wines were awarded “Three Glasses” by Gambero Rosso in its “Vini d’Italia 2019” guide:

ALTO ADIGE VALLE ISARCO SYLVANER ALTE REBEN 2016 Pacherhof vineyard, Andreas Huber

ALTO ADIGE VALLE ISARCO SYLVANER LAHNER 2016 Taschlerhof vineyard, Peter Wachtler

ALTO ADIGE VALLE ISARCO RIESLING 2016 Köfererhof vineyard, Günter Kerschbaumer

ALTO ADIGE PINOT BIANCO PRAESULIS 2017 Gumphof vineyard, Markus Prackwieser

W

W is for Wine

Tasting, drinking, and talking shop: how to do it properly.

Oenologist Fenja Hinz from Cantina Valle Isarco/ Eisacktaler Kellerei shares some expert tips

Fenja Hinz

Born in 1988, she grew up in Erlangen (Germany) and trained as a vintner before studying viticulture and oenology at Geisenheim University. She has lived in South Tyrol for roughly three years and is Second Cellar Master at the Cantina Valle Isarco/Eisacktaler Kellerei winery.

Wine philistine that I am, I am staring at the wine shelf at a supermarket in Eisacktal Valley. I want to buy a good quality product. What do I do? I would go for a regional wine and grape variety. Eisacktal Valley is particularly wellknown for its white wines: Sylvaner, Kerner, Veltliner. Be brave! Pick something you have never tried before. And never be afraid to ask and seek some advice.

How cheap is too cheap? Everyone has their own upper and lower limits of tolerance when it comes to prices. However, you should always keep in mind that wine production is a complicated and costly thing: it involves a lot of manual labour, especially on the steep slopes of this region, and only one vintage a year.

There is so much I can do wrong when opening a bottle of wine. How can I make it look at least somewhat elegant? Use a good corkscrew, one with a lever. Position the screw perfectly straight in order to hit the cork in the middle. Then drive it in as far as it will go. But be careful with older vintages: the cork may already be a bit porous. What if the cork breaks or pieces of cork end up in the wine? Doesn’t look good, but does no harm. The wine will only be spoiled if there is something wrong with the cork, not because there are pieces of cork floating in it.

What is the one thing I can always say at a tasting, even if I don’t have any clue whatsoever? My advice would be to say something positive. If it is a young vintage, you can always say, “Ermmm, yeeees, I think this one could stand a little more time.” And that’s true, even if it’s a very good one. For an older vintage I would recommend saying, “Ermmm, uhm, yes, it’s still open and aromatic in spite of its age.”