Elderberry sparkling wine, apple cider, Lagrein Kretzer

& the coolest cocktails for the hot summer days

July 2019

The older rugged character of Lagrein Kretzer was very popular, even though its high malic acid content often led to hot flushes that could degenerate into fisticuffs in deep cellars.

Today this threat is (largely) averted thanks to our affable master cellarmen who expect us to put up with much less malic acid. During the so-called second fermentation of Kretzer, hard malic acid is "degraded" to a milder lactic acid.

In the 1930s, our Kretzer was very much in demand in Switzerland (one would need to investigate just how “heated” our neighbours were after a few quarters of Kretzer when leaving their wine taverns). Along with other rosé wines, this traditional Lagrein Kretzer is experiencing a legendary renaissance - particularly as a well-chilled, light summer wine. It has become an indispensable feature on the wine lists at VINUM Hotels South Tyrol. In recent years, interest in rosé wines has significantly risen worldwide. And in these parts too, there are signs that a few wineries are gradually beginning to press Lagrein from good locations.

Karl Theodor Hoeniger, a knowledgeable wine folklorist and Lagrein Kretzer enthusiast of the previous generation, left us a gentle warning about Kretzer in his wine handbook: Be careful when returning home, Hoeniger reminded us using an analogy, Kretzer will leave you legless. If you drink too much of this quaffable chilled rosé wine. Precisely because Kretzer is drunk chilled and therefore the alcohol content of this cool wine is not immediately noticeable - and because it still presents intense malic acid, Lagrein Kretzer is the absolute ideal wine for a spring or summer feeling ... Karl Theodor Hoeniger would probably put it more clearly: Kretzer is a fantastic chat-up wine!

Actually, a large share of our doctors here, are also wine enthusiasts. In fact, wine is one of the oldest household remedies for all kinds of ailments. Especially if it is an organic sparkling wine! Franz Egger from Neumarkt in Salurn is one of the forerunners of the traditional method that is to say bottle-fermented organic South Tyrolean apple sparkling wine. With the patience of an elephant, Egger initially sold his extraordinary sparkling wine at conventional sites. In the meantime, the demand for organic and sparkling wines has significantly risen in South Tyrol - not least thanks to the VINUM Hotels South Tyrol! Franz Egger is a man who enjoys experimenting with sparkling wines: he makes apple must, which is then fermented in the bottle together with elderberry blossoms, as well as an apple-ginger sparkling wine, which is distinctively reminiscent of cider from Brittany and southern England.

But on the hottest days of the year, South Tyrolean fruit juices are just as popular, for example, Kohl's mountain apple juices: Thomas Kohl produces single-variety gourmet mountain apple juices and apple juices, which are combined with another fruit, berry or an infusion of exciting flavours. His products are now known and loved far beyond the borders of South Tyrol. They are available in the local gourmet shop in Unterinn am Ritten or in various selected delicatessens and restaurants throughout Europe - and of course also in VINUM-Hotels South Tyrol. "Quality begins with the choice of ingredients," says Thomas Kohl, Italy's first apple juice affineur. "I make no compromises.

Our apples are harvested by hand in two to three stages between August and October. The altitude of almost 1,000m above sea level gives us an advantage over fruit from the valley in that our juices not only have sweetness but also balanced acidity and are therefore interesting accompaniments to dishes. For his combination of mountain apple juice and carrot, Kohl recently received "Die Goldene Birne" (“The Golden Pear”) in Lower Austria, Europe's most important product award in juices.