Merano Wine Festival 2025

Merano Wine Festival 2025, one of the most prestigious food and wine events, took place from November 8 to 12 in the homonymous city in the Alto Adige region. This year marked the 33rd edition of the festival, which hosted about 7,000 visitors over five days. On the other side of the “counter”, 1,000 exhibitors presented their food and wine excellence. After the post-COVID editions, which featured a somewhat different format dividing the producers over two days, this year’s event successfully returned to the best, as we say, “golden” times of this esteemed festival. «Numbers that mark the consolidation of a quality audience among industry operators, journalists and wine lovers, an objective achieved and which we will continue to pursue in the next editions» declares the event founder Helmuth Köcher.

The opening day was dedicated to the Bio&Dynamica & More exhibition, showcasing a variety of styles, including organic, biodynamic, natural, amphora- and underwater-aged aged, orange, PIWI, or produced through integrated viticulture wines. During the same day, Nicola Biasi and Professor Attilio Scienza conducted a Masterclass on PIWI vines and wines. This session was particularly engaging, given their expertise on the subject. Professor Scienza’s insights are always thought-provoking, as he examines each topic comprehensively, considering both producers’ and consumers’ viewpoints. This topic, which revolves around sustainability, deserves a separate discussion. The wines tasted during the session were surprisingly expressive and well-balanced.

Numerous themes of the masterclasses, therefore, made this Merano Wine Festival 2025 edition even more special and international: wines in amphora, those aged underwater, from Georgia and Moldova, on the screw caps, in addition to PIWI vines, and much more. «It was a beautiful edition, and we are delighted with how it went,» says Helmuth Köcher, patron of the event. «We reached 7000 admissions, a figure in line with past years, which marks the consolidation of our success with a quality audience of buyers, industry operators, journalists and the audience of enthusiasts and wine lovers. Among visitors, producers, partners, journalists and collaborators, a total volume of 10 thousand people, for an event that generates a spin-off of over 6 million in the Merano area».

Catwalk Champagne & More took place on Tuesday, November 12, with 50 Champagne houses and 75 Italian producers of Traditional Method sparkling wine. Some producers have asked for feedback on whether it makes sense for them to participate in this session as well. I have two thoughts on this matter: first, some visitors only come for Champagne Day, which means there will be a segment of new visitors. Second, it may be more beneficial for those specifically focused on traditional method sparkling wines but who have not participated in the previous days.

In my next articles, I will focus separately on the PIWI Masterclass and Catwalk Champagne and sparkling wines topic, including Solera and Perpetual styles, so stay tuned… Here, I want to highlight some still wines I tasted that deserve special attention.

New Labels Releases

Selvante IGT 2019 Tenuta di Campo al Mare, Ambrogio & Giovanni Folonari. This Cabernet Franc 100%, with its silky ripe tannins, excellent fruit concentration and, at the same time, great elegance, surely deserves to be placed at the top of the list of the best Tuscan Cabernet Francs. Simply outstanding.

Cabernet Franc in Tuscany sometimes gives truly great wines with Paleo at the top of the list, which, however, in its latest 2020 vintage, tasted a few days later for the “Guida Vitae” guide, did not confirm my expectations, resulting in excessively exuberant and grippy tannins and lacked in balance. Let us hope it is just a vintage.

Asiram Toscana IGT 2019 by La Massa is an extraordinary expression of the single-varietal Merlot, marking an absolute novelty from the winery just released on the market. This wine is tryly special, dedicated to Giampaolo Motta’s mom. Deep, complex, and extremely elegant with fascinating truffle scents, it is capable of long ageing and deserves a perfect score of 100 points, in my opinion. Read also “Tenuta La Massa releases ‘spectacular’ single-vineyard monocépage Merlot” article on The Drink Business.

Eternelle Leonia Pomino DOC Brut Millesimato Traditional Method Sparkling Wine. This super-premium cuvée shows an outstanding character. It comes from only Chardonnay grapes grown at 700 meters above sea level, which helps slow down ripening while maintaining acidity and constructing more complex aromas and flavours. Chardonnay is well-known for its affinity with lees ageing, so after 8 years on lees, Eternelle results in a rich spectre of nuances and depth.

Older wines tastings

Lis Neris presented a mini-vertical of its Picol in the 2022, 2017, 2011 and 2003 vintages. Once again, they demonstrated an impressive ability to enhance the grape variety’s characteristics, adding an almost imperceptible touch of wood that contributes to the richer mouthfeel while maintaining balance.

La Forra Riserva 1998 Tenuta di Nozzole. Surprising and unexpected freshness. The 1997 and 1998 vintages in Tuscany are always a game of roulette: you find some extraordinarily young bottles and others surprisingly old. Giovanni Folonari guarantees the quality of the old vintages, as each bottle is checked and re-corked before being sold.

Vernaccia di Oristano Riserva 1979 by Antico Gregori, produced in a very limited quantity of just 2,700 bottles. The longevity and elegance of this wine are impressive, not to mention its surprising breadth. I’m grateful to have tasted these ‘gems’ that possess extraordinary charm; the sensations I experienced will stay with me for a long time.

While it would take pages and pages to cover each edition, including Merano Wine Festival 2025, I can summarize my experience in Merano in a few words: I cannot wait to return. The elegance and beauty of Merano, a city that truly captivates with its charm, along with the hospitality and impressive organizational skills of the MWF event’s team. What can I say? Simply, chapeau!

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Originally from Latvia and based in Italy for more than 30 years, for about twenty, I worked as a food and wine consultant. For four years, I directed the Tola Rasa fine dining restaurant in Padua. I am a professional sommelier of the two most important Italian associations, AIS and FISAR, DipWSET (WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines, London School), Valpolicella Wine Specialist, Wine Judge, Official Port and Cava Educator, Langhe Wines Ambassador, SSA Certified Sake Sommelier and Rice Sommelier.

I am a founder and project manager at Tooscans, e-commerce dedicated mainly to Tuscan products, with offline distribution. I created the Sparkling Life website, which is published in three languages and focuses on Italian food and wine excellence. I also deal with consulting and communication, digital marketing, branding strategy, and wine education.

Find out more: Irina Mihailenko