For the Sustainable Vitienology, an award given to those who are committed to eco-sustainability in the most diverse ways, we have chosen a South Tyrolean company known everywhere for its biodynamic “creed,” a company that has made respect for the natural environment a guide for life as well as work. We are talking about Manincor.

Fourth winery we have set our sights on in this edition of The Essential Guide to Italian Wines. After Vietti company of the year, Castello di Grumello emerging producer, Vecchia Cantina di Montepulciano cooperation award, it is the turn of Manincor for sustainable winemaking.

Manincor, sustainable winemaking award

In a wine world increasingly focused on sustainability, Manincor is a genuine example of respect and consistency. In Kaltern, in the heart of South Tyrol, the winery of the Count Michael Goëss-Enzenberg, guided with sensitivity by the oenologist Helmut Zozin, has won a place of honor among regional excellences thanks to wines of elegance, finesse and natural balance.

True to the principles of biodynamics, the vineyards and winery live in harmony with the earth. Every gesture is designed to preserve natural cycles and return to nature what it offers, in a certified organic and biodynamic ecosystem where vineyards, orchards, forests and meadows coexist in perfect synergy.

The company bases its philosophy on a holistic-sustainable vision, where respect for people, animals and plants is intertwined with a skillful use of modern technologies, serving nature and never in conflict with it.

Helmut Zozin, winemaker and director of Manincor
The award we gave Manincor thus celebrates its most authentic soul: that of a winery capable of transforming harmony with nature into wines that express themselves with grace, balance and authenticity. Wines that speak of identity and respect, but also of modernity and vision.

Vineyards

Manincor, the ancient villa
From a winery geared toward supplying grapes to the area’s social wineries, the change came in the 1990s: Count Michael took over the winery from his uncle and decided to produce on his own. In a few years he reaches 52 hectares of property as well as an agreement with three trusted suppliers of biodynamic grapes, for a total of about 60 hectares under vine and 350-400 thousand bottles produced, according to the vintages. The vineyards are divided into. several estates, divided among the various grapes according to microclimate and soil characteristics. Harvesting takes 6-7 weeks, starting with Pinot Noir and ending with Cabernet.

Manincor, barrelhouse
The organic (German) certification that the farm has obtained requires only 3 kg/ha of copper per year, so minimal doses that are given with 8 tractors in only 8 hours. Biodynamic preparations are dynamized by hand and given with a drone which, carrying 35 liters, covers one hectare and does it in only 3-4 minutes. Everything is designed to carry out every agricultural practice safely and quickly, for the protection of the environment.

Winemaking

Manincor barriques In the cellar of Manincor – totally underground, a concrete box under five feet of earth – everything stems from respect for the grape and its natural rhythms. The goal is to create an environment in which processes can take place without forcing, accompanying the raw material gently. The concrete structure favors thermal balance and distributes temperature and humidity according to the needs of different environments.

The bunches of grapes, picked and sorted by hand, arrive on the upper floor of the winery and, propelled only by the force of gravity, they pass through three levels without the use of pumps-a gentle path that preserves the integrity of the future wine.

The spontaneous fermentations are activated by the vineyard’s natural yeasts. Red wines take shape in open vats, where careful and respectful extraction is performed, while whites ferment and mature in oval oak barrels of 12 to 30 hectoliters. Each gesture follows the biodynamic principles and the rhythm of the phases of the moon, so that the wine can ripen harmoniously, stably and vividly.