Malcolm Jolley talks to Karoline Walch from Elena Walch in Alto Adige…
Karoline Walch and Gurvinder Bhatia at the 2019 Alto Adige Wine Summit in Bolzano.
I met Karoline Walch a few years ago at a Lifford Grand Tasting. She was pouring exquisite wines made under the family label named after her mother Elena Walch, and I spent quite a bit of time at her table talking to her about the winery and the region of Alto Adige, or as the German speaking residents there call it, Südtirol. Last fall, when I had the opportunity to travel to Bolzano to attend the Alto Adige Wine Summit, I sought Karoline and the Elena Walch wines out and tasted more amazing aromatic whites, including Gewürztraminer, Pinot Bianco, their full bodied yet mineral Chardonnay from the Castel Ringberg vineyard as well as a peppery Pinot Nero and the indigenous Lagrein. It was a good day.
When I decided I’d follow Jamie’s lead, and start contacting our wine contacts at home and around the world, Karoline came to mind, and she agreed to do the Zoom call that makes up the interview below. Actually, she more than agreed and suggested she do it from the Castel Ringberg vineyard, with its views of the Dolomite Alps. In the interview discuss the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on her family’s winery and the region, get a little vineyard tour and then talk a little bit about the wines.
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