The ultimate education on wine

Merano Winefestival – MWF, the South Tyrolean gateway to the greatest wines in the world

November 2018

The Merano International Winefestival is just around the corner, as colossal as late Hannibal's elephant – like a tasting machine, several commissions have selected the best bottles from more than 5,000 wines over the course of a year which will now be presented by winegrowers and cellarmen at the Meran Kurhaus.

And just as the reputation of this international South Tyrolean wine event has steadily risen, also its ideator - the wine devil and Chef Helmut Köcher in person, has long since become this scene’s star, the world's best advert for the Meran and South Tyrolean wine world. The numbers and order of events are huge, pharaonic, close upon unmanageable – waiting in the Kurhaus for VINUM-Hotels South Tyrol guests are: 500 winegrowing enterprises from home and abroad in the Wine section, 50 wine producers bio&dynamica, 90 master hand-crafted delicacies in the Culinaria section, over 1 dozen distillers (Aquavitae&Liquores), 10 breweries with home-made beers (BeerPassion), 10 WineResorts, 1 GourmetArena. Nothing but superlatives. The numbers are overwhelming, yes pharaonic, a few hundred select wine producers lure tasters like ancient Sirens. With well over 1000 wines, a good third of which could throw the world into global rapture – die-hard fans of the Merano WineFestival admit with a wink that only a tasting machine could manage the entire tasting program.

A long-standing custom observed at the WineFestival is that on the one hand, visitors always expect an implosion (jostling crowds, too many wines, superficial encounters) and on the other hand they unfailingly return... Helmuth Köcher, Winefestival president and its head "wine-hunter" together with his festival team are some of the most dynamic, innovative event organizers around, exhibiting astonishing efficiency and never-ending imagination. VINUM Hotels South Tyrol have planned and co-organized interesting events on the subject of wine to complement the Merano WineFestival with great anticipation. Patron Helmut Köcher: "During my many travels, I fell in love with Bordeaux, its wine and its vineyards. Back in Italy, I decided to devote myself to my soon-to-be passion, the nectar of the gods. In 1992, I resolved to organize an event that brought together both excellence and elegance. The result was an unprecedented event in Italy: this was the birth of the Merano WineFestival."

Perhaps the most interesting event is "VinoCulti", a renowned dessert wine tasting event that takes place in Dorf Tirol - offering South Tyrolean dessert wines that have been tasted, tested and assigned as particularly commendable by a commission of Laimburg wine technicians and sommeliers. The 10 best are then awarded certificates and diplomas, in addition to this the cellarman of the winning wine receives the "Dolcissimo" sculpture for an outstanding dessert wine of international stature.