Our penultimate Maestrazgo Wine Club before the summer break took place at Kserol restaurant in Barcelona, where we met up for some delicious wine and lunch on arguably the first really hot day of the year. Normally I try and write up the experience, held together as they are by a theme of some sort, yet we were really jumping around the world, looking to find fresh, summery wines as a sort of inspiration for the baking hot months ahead. As a result I’m going to cherry pick the most impressive wine of the tasting which, by popular consensus, was Franz Haas’s ‘Manna’ 2016, an incredible blend of 4 international varieties that is so much greater than the sum of its parts, I can’t help by applaud the wine-making intelligence that went into it.
Franz Haas is a producer in Alto Adige, Northern Italy, established in 1880 and currently into their 7th generation as a family-owned winery. I’ve been drinking their wines for over a year now, mainly their Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir) the top bottling of which can be quite excellent. However, I wanted to showcase a lighter style of Alto Adige and I bought a bottle of ‘Manna’ a few months ago. A blend of Riesling, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Gewurztraminer; I half expected an overblown, slightly muddled blend with no real character or interest. Naturally, I was completely wrong and the wine was so good I ordered another bottle with the intention of sneaking it into a tasting. I’m very glad I did, as it was the most popular wine of the day with 6/10 votes, and an excellent example of intelligent, thoughtful blending.
Tasting Note
Riesling, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer and Sauvignon Blanc in unspecified but decreasing amounts, from their own vineyards on completely different soils. Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are barrel fermented whilst Riesling and Gewurtraminer are fermented in stainless steel. After the blending process, the wine sits for 10 months to allow the components to integrate together. 13% ABV
Pale in colour and very aromatic; not entirely surprising given the amount of aromatic varieties involved in the blend! Ripe apricots, green pineapple, honeysuckle, rose petals and chalk is all very Riesling with a touch of Gewurtraminer on the nose, yet this is a different beast entirely on the palate. Weightier with creamy acidity and the same ripe fruit profile, this tastes like really lovely Chardonnay from a warm climate. A beautifully crafted wine and so well balanced; I wonder how long it took them to get this right? The first vintage was 1995 so I suppose there’s been a fair bit of trial and error. The wine of the tasting. 92pts
Purchased from Vinissimus for €19.89