J. Hofstatter Meczan Pinot Nero Alto Adige 2023

I’ll never forget years ago when I went to Oregon’s IPNC (International Pinot Noir Celebration) in the Willamette Valley. I had a ticket for the international Pinot Noir celebration which I assumed would just be Burgundy and Oregon. That’s the day I learned about J. Hofstatter and their Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir).

The line to have a few tiny pours of Pinot Noir was unusually long. The only other booths with those kinds of crowds were the ones from Beaune, Antica Terra, and Domaine Serene. But the crowd for this tiny Alto Adige producer had dwarfed them all and I managed to sneak in just before their last bottle disappeared. Their sales director was horrified: “I was only asked to bring 10 cases! I would’ve brought more!” How could he have known there was going to be a stampede?!?

This is Alto Adige’s leading red wine producer. They utilize family vineyards on both sides of the Adige River making some of the most elegant, terroir-driven wines in Northern Italy. Their Mezcan Pinot Nero is a 100% Pinot Noir grown on clay and limestone tucked away just beneath the mighty Dolomites. The color is so light that it’s a bit misleading. There’s so much fruit here and it’s so incredibly pure and playful with so much lift that there’s a slight effervescence to it. It dances on the palate, and leaves you with so many red-fruited flavors that you keep going for more and more. And by that time, they folks at Hofstatter have already converted yet another wine lover into a devoted fan.