Gewürztraminer Kolbenhof Hofstätter 2021

This Gewurztraminer has its origins in the careful and exclusive selection of grapes of the Traminer Aromatico variety on the estate at Kolbenhof in Termeno. By unanimous judgement, the Kolbenhof estate is one of the greatest "crus". This is due to the unique local climate and to the age and position of the grapevines. During the harvest the grapes are places in small trays. They are then lightly crushed, and the must is left in contact with the grapeskins to exalt the characteristics of this particular variety. The wine is then matured in large oak barrels, and refined in the bottles for four months before it is put on the market. It has a burnished golden, straw-yellow colour that is both deep and brilliant. Its aroma is typically concentrated with a classic note of smoked spices, sweet nutmeg and dried flowers and roses, all of which combine to form a flowery bouquet which has quite an impact. There is a perfect correspondence between the wine's aroma and its taste. It is a substantial wine with a healthy body and a complexity of sensations in an environment of freshness and liveliness. 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

Although this wine is excellent to drink on its own, it also goes well with shellfish and fish dishes. It is marvelous with "fois gras" and with oysters.

How to serve it

The wine should be served at 15 - 18 degrees centigrade in clear, transparent crystal goblets.

How to keep

This wine will certainly increase in importance and take on an even more accentuated personality after it has been aged for 2-3 years, although it should not be considered a wine to age for a long period. The bottles should be laid horizontally in a cool, dark, humid wine-cellar.