The sound of rain thrumming against the windows was replaced by the rhythmic swishing and spitting of trained tasters as MW students filled the classroom. Occasionally a ‘that’s a bit tired’ or ‘that one was really lovely’ was offered as people worked their way around a table lined with wines from Alto Adige.
Having arrived as soon as the door opened and tasted through the wines quickly, I sat at a desk away from the main table Googling prices, eavesdropping and watching which bottles were drained quickest. The wines on the table ranged in price from $25 to $250 but the one I was watching with ardent curiosity was a Kerner priced at $28. It had scintillating acidity; managed to be creamy, vibrantly citrusy and minty all at once; and had a generosity of texture and a finish that punched far above its price point. I watched as people nodded and gestured their friends towards it until it was emptied well ahead of the other bottles.
Then I scrolled our database and found that, as usual, Julia is two steps ahead. My score of 17 was reinforced by the same score from her a year ago – and she was just as generous with their 2021 vintage. Digging around in our article archives I found that she had already awarded Nössing’s Kerner a wine of the week back in 2009! But, as that was 16 years ago and I was still well short of the drinking age, I’m going to give myself a break for having missed it. However, if you, like me, have been living unaware of the glories of Manni Nössing Kerner, I highly recommend you change that!
Nössing (pictured above), as Julia spelled out in her article all those years ago, is a farmer first. Prior to creating his own label in 1999, he sold his grapes to the Abbazia di Novacella co-op. As soon as he started producing his own wines, he began to gain recognition. In 2003 he released his first Kerner, and it won a Gambero Rosso tre bicchiere award. It has gone on to be so successful that Nössing is known in Italy as ‘Mr Kerner’.
Nössing farms 6 ha (15 acres) at the very edge of the Eisacktal (Valle Isarco in Italian), a subzone of the Südtirol (Alto Adige in Italian; in this largely German-speaking area of Italy every place name has both an Italian and a German version) at elevations of 650–700 m (2,130–2,300 ft) on sandy granitic soils. Two and a half of his hectares are Kerner – more than double the area he has devoted to any other variety. The variety, a cross between Schiava Grossa (Grossvernatsch) and Riesling, has proven particularly adapt at weathering the harsh winters in the area and setting healthy yields (around 10,000 kg/ha or 4.5 tons/acre) of characterful sugar-rich grapes. In 2022, a hot and uncomfortably dry vintage that was revived by a refreshing bout of rain pre harvest, alcohol reached a well-integrated 13.9% abv. The Kerner harvest generally begins at the end of September and lasts until the middle of October. However, in 2022 harvest began on 6 September and was over by 21 September.
Once the Kerner is harvested the grapes are quickly whole-bunch pressed and the must is fermented at 17–18 °C (63–64 °F) in stainless steel. Fermentation typically lasts 10–12 days after which the wines are racked off their gross lees and aged on their fine lees, again in stainless steel, for nine months. Malolactic conversion is blocked. The result is a wine with ample freshness, texture and deep concentration. My recommendation would be to buy it by the half case and see how it ages over the next four to five years.
This wine, according to the producer’s website, is available in 16 countries: Italy, the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Czech Republic. In the US it is imported by Kermit Lynch, with the best price on Wine-Searcher listed as $27.95 from Plucky Wines in New Jersey. In the UK this wine can be purchased from Lea & Sandeman for £24.50 a bottle.
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