The 407-year-old Manincor wine estate was started by the Manincor family in 1608 and was joined to the prominent Tyrolean Counts Enzenberg through marriage in 1662. The estate has stayed in the Enzenberg family for all those years and was inevitably passed down to Count Michael Goëss-Enzenberg in 1996. Before his tenure at Manincor, the estate fruit was taken to the co-op for production; Count Michael built a state-of-the-art winery and subterranean cellar for the estate and began crafting wine from their own pristine fruit in 1996. Quality has increased dramatically since the transition to organic and biodynamic farming over the last decade. Today’s 2013 Réserve della Contessa is a Terlaner DOC, a which is a blend of local varietals that is specific to the Trentino-Alto Adige region; this particular bottling consists of 60% Pinot Bianco (Blanc), 30% Chardonnay and 10% Sauvignon. The fruit is derived from two incredible parcels. Two-thirds of the fruit comes from the “Lieben Aich” vineyard in Terlan; perched just under 1000 feet in altitude; the site boasts eroded volcanic soil laced with quartzite sand and clay. The remaining one-third comes from the “Campan” vineyard on the grounds of the family’s castle in Kaltern and is comprised of clay infused with morainal deposits at an altitude of over 1600 feet.  

 

These unique sites are farmed with biodynamic and organic methods. In fact, years ago, Count Michael Goëss-Enzenberg was in a desperate search for lost terroir; the character of the land was not translating in the glass after past years of conventional (chemical) farming which left the soil lifeless. He decided to transition his estate to biodynamic farming in 2005. By 2009, the entire estate was certified as 100% biodynamic and since that time he has joined forces with the “Respekt-BIODYN” association, including producers from Austria, Germany, Hungary and Italy, that is committed to “producing wines of the highest quality using biodynamic methods.” Following manual harvest of this pristine fruit, the grapes are de-stemmed then macerate for six hours. The wine undergoes fermentation through naturally occurring yeasts in oak barrels where it ages on its fine lees for six months. The resulting wine offers the texture of serious white Burgundy, the slightly honeyed and tropical aromatic quality of white Bordeaux with absolute purity and energy that is a snapshot of the unique terroir.