Merano Wine Festival 2018
A wine festival with more and more interest
The 27th Merano WineFestival is celebrated with 8.5% more visitors than the previous edition and with the memory of a series of events and innovations that have made this 2018 edition brilliant and of ever-increasing quality. The patron Helmuth Köcher thus celebrates with his staff the more than 11,000 visitors distributed evenly over the five days of the event in Merano; the highest attendance on Saturdays,
Sundays and Mondays, and an increase of interest for the days of bio&dynamic Friday with the selection of organic wines, biodynamic and PIWI (varieties of vine resistant to cryptogams) and Catwalk Champagne on Tuesday with show-cooking on the stage of the Kursaal of star chef Karl Baumgartner. Having closed the curtain on the most glamorous food and wine event in Italy and the world, the WineHunter Helmut Köcher will be at its next edition, to be held from 8 to 12 November 2019.
This year’s edition presented in the elegant setting of the Kurhaus the Official Selection with more than 950 wineries among the best in Italy and in the world and more than 120 artisans of taste; great focus on rosé wines with Rosé – Wine in the future, the tasting led by sommelier Costantino Gabardi and the path that faced the Italian style of rosé wine through its most suitable places.
A well-filled program
Young professionals under 30 were awarded after two days of intense trials to be overcome by the recognition of the Emergente Sala prize, created by Luigi Cremona and Lorenza Vitali, who crowned the best three young professionals from
Northern Italy. Merano WineFestival 2018 also stood out for the variety of high-level events dedicated to the world of food and wine with the addition of a touch of musical entertainment and cultural meetings. Naturae&Purae, a conference curated and conceived by Helmuth Köcher and Angelo Carrillo, took place at the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle with the participation of specialists such as Andrea Paternoster, Carlo Nesler, Mario Pojer, Gae Saccoccio and Dr. Lucio Lucchin, experts in the field of wine, fermented foods and food, where it emerged that wine is a food that can still contribute to the well-being of man. Of great interest is Wild Cooking, an event dedicated to fermented foods with show cooking and preparation of star dishes. The highlight of the event is undoubtedly the awarding of the Platinum Award, the highest award given by WineHunter Helmuth Köcher in the categories Wine, Wine Ante 2010, Culinaria and Aquavitae and through the guide The WineHunter Award.
A deep interest for the future of wine
Not only presentations of food & wine excellence, but also open discussions such as the round table at the Puccini Theatre on the future of wine between climate change, new production opportunities and consumer expectations in the presence of experts such as Stevie Kim, Luca Gardini, Luciano Ferraro, Oscar Farinetti, Joe Bastianich, Luigi Moio, Matilde Poggi, Walter Massa, Adua Villa, Luciano Pignataro and Andrea Gori moderated by Franz Botrè, with the authoritative presence of the Merano climatologist Georg Kaser who invited all humanity to drastically change their habits: “The world is focusing on the worst of the two projections with devastating impacts on our lives and in particular on viticulture. Even a temperature increase of 1.5 degrees would have serious consequences on the cultivation of the vine and on the quality of the wine, and not only” stressed the professor.
The next Merano WineFestival will take place on 8 – 12 November, 2019. VertdeVin Magazine will be of course a partner of this new edition!