Pinot Noir National Contest: the best in Italy is Ludwig by Elena Walch (90.3 points)

The first place award, at 90.3 points, went to Elena Walch’s Ludwig, followed by Monticol Riserva di Cantina di Terlano, at 89.1 points, and in third place, Tenuta Tiefenbrunner Castel Turmhof, Linticlarus Riserva, at 88.5 points, tied with Anrar of Cantina di Andriano. Then close behind, Malojer Gummerhof Reserve (88.4 points), Vom Kalk of the Ignaz Niedrist Estate (88.2 points), Burgum Novum Reserve of Castelfeder (87.5 points), Maglen of Cantina Tramin (86.7 points), Palladium of the Martini & Sohn Winery, and Thalman of the Bolzano Winery. These are the top Italian Pinot Noirs that the judges of the 19th edition of the Contest awarded and which this year all come from South Tyrol (Alto Adige). The contest should have taken place together with the South Tyrolean Pinot Noir Days, as usual. However, this year, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the event has been postponed to 2021 (to be held from May 15th to 17th).
The team of tasters, though, did not stop and instead, evaluated the 81 Pinot Noirs that came from 10 different wine-growing territories, and that is, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Trentino, South Tyrol, Lombardy, Piedmont, Valle d’Aosta, Tuscany, Umbria, Abruzzi and Sicily.
“It was really quite sad”, explained Marc Pfitscher, head of the Pinot Noir National Contest, “to not be able to share tasting these 81 Italian Pinot Noirs together with the many connoisseurs at South Tyrolean Days, expressing our usual passion and enthusiasm. We very much missed their opinions and their feedback on the evolution of the quality of the wines obtained from this noble and ambitious grape variety”.