Although Robert Parker, the Wine Advocate, recently withdrew from the operational business, his 100-point scoring system remains the most important yardstick in the international wine world. Italy has now been covered for some time by Monica Larner, and her first review of Alto Adige for this year was recently released. The wines of Cantina Kaltern have done extremely well, with no fewer than ten wines awarded more than 90 points.TOP RATINGS FOR QUINTESSENZ
Four of our five Quintessenz wines were submitted for tasting (the Kalterersee will be tasted in the second round), and all four achieved outstanding scores. 93 points were awarded to three of the wines, while our Passito scored 95+. Our premium line is clearly living up to its name!
BEST RED WINE IN ALTO ADIGE
At the international level, Alto Adige is seen primarily as a white wine region. That makes the success of our kunst.stück Cabernet Sauvignon Riserva 2015 all the more remarkable: With 96 points it was the best red wine in Alto Adige (and third best wine overall)! For Monica Larner, the wine is an “absolute beauty” and one of the best examples of the expression of the terroir in the variety that she has tasted this year. In the past, the kunst.stück Pinot Bianco 2014 was awarded 95 points and the kunst.stück Kalterersee Classico Superiore 2016 93 points by Robert Parker.
REWARDING EXPERIMENTS
Our Project XXX stands for eXplore – eXperiment – eXclusive and thus for innovative, unique limited edition wines, which give our winemaker ample scope for experimentation. These wines were sent in as a kind of extra – and two of them promptly received 91 points and one of them 92!
BRUT NATURE AND PINOT BIANCO UP WITH THE WINNERS
Another gratifying result was achieved by our Brut Nature sparkling wine 2013, which impressed Monica Larner with its density and combination of power and lightness. We are also proud of the verdict on our Pinot Bianco 2018 in the Classic line, which broke the 90 Parker points barrier for the first time – proof that excellent wines do not have to be expensive!
THIRD FALSTAFF STAR FOR CANTINA KALTERN
Like a hotel guide, the Austrian “Falstaff” wine guide awards stars to describe the general quality achieved by a wine producer. This year our winery was awarded a third star, thus rewarding our focus on quality over the last few years. We are particularly pleased with the scores for the wines in our Quintessenz line: 94 points for the Pinot Bianco 2017 and Sauvignon Blanc 2017, 93 points for the Cabernet Sauvignon Riserva 2016 and 92 points for the Passito 2015. The excellent score of 92 points for Solos Bianco 2018, our new organic white cuvée, and the fantastic 94 points awarded to the kunst.stück Cabernet Sauvignon Riserva 2015 are also very exciting results.
Best regards from the lake
Cantina Kaltern
