Elena Walch : Gewurztraminer "Vigna Kastelaz" 2024

Characteristics and tasting tips for the Gewurztraminer "Vigna Kastelaz" 2024 by Elena Walch

Tasting

Colour
This white wine displays an intense straw-yellow colour, enhanced by brilliant golden highlights.

Nose
Particularly expressive and complex, the aromatic bouquet opens with floral notes of rose petals and white flowers. It then evolves towards aromas of exotic fruits such as lychee and mango, complemented by subtle hints of acacia honey, beeswax and a fine minerality.

Palate
Generous and opulent, the palate offers lovely breadth, perfectly balanced by a lively acidity. The tasting reveals a pleasant freshness with accents of sweet spices, stretching into a long, delicate and particularly juicy finish.

Food and wine pairings

This wine pairs beautifully with seafood and shellfish such as lobster or crab. It is also an ideal match for mildly spicy Asian cuisine, grilled vegetables and blue cheeses.

Serving and cellaring

For optimal enjoyment, it is recommended to serve the Gewurztraminer "Vigna Kastelaz" 2024 at a temperature of between 10 and 13°C. This wine can be enjoyed now, but it also has the potential to develop in bottle, allowing it to be cellared until around 2034.

The aromatic expression and minerality of a great Italian white wine from Trentino-Alto Adige

The estate

While the family's agricultural roots date back to 1869, the Elena Walch estate truly came into being in 1988, driven by this architect who became the first female oenologist in the region. Located in Italy, in Trentino-Alto Adige, the estate quickly established itself as an essential benchmark thanks to its pursuit of excellence and its plot-by-plot approach. Today, the founder's daughters, Julia and Karoline Walch, run the estate. They carry on this family legacy by combining high-precision viticulture with a strong environmental commitment, recognised by a sustainability certification.

The vineyard

This cuvée comes from the historic "Vigna Kastelaz" plot, a spectacular terroir overlooking the village of Tramin, in the Alto Adige appellation. This vineyard stands out for its extreme gradient, reaching 63%, and its rare due-south exposure, ensuring maximum sunshine. The vines, grown on terraces at altitudes of between 330 and 380 metres, thrive on complex soils combining limestone strata, post-glacial sands, granite and porphyry. The estate practises sustainable and meticulous viticulture here, without herbicides, promoting biodiversity through cover cropping and harvesting all the grapes by hand.

Winemaking and ageing

Following a rigorous manual harvest, the berries destined for the Gewurztraminer "Vigna Kastelaz" 2024 are lightly crushed before undergoing cold skin maceration for around six hours. The must is then gently pressed and naturally clarified by cooling. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks at a controlled temperature of 18°C, using selected yeasts. Finally, this Italian wine is aged on fine lees for several months in tank, with no oak ageing whatsoever, in order to preserve the full aromatic purity of the fruit.

Grape variety

100% Gewürztraminer