Englar gothic castle is situated on a gentle hillside in the heart of a estate of outstanding natural beauty. The high-quality soils and the favorable position give ideal conditions for a high-quality viticulture.
The gently exposed areas to the east and to the south at the foot of the mountains lie between 450 and 550m above sea level. The hillside location permits strong temperature fluctuations between day and night; this, together with the soil structure of lime gravel and porphyry weathering soil provide the perfect conditions for high-quality viticulture.
The 13 hectare estate is located directly around the castle with 7 hectares of vineyards. Wine has been cultivated here by the counts Khuen-Belasi since 1640. Today, the company is run by Johannes and Maria Khuen-Belasi. Until 1930, the estate had its own winery, then it acted as a supplier of a significant local cooperative. In the year 2012 was the decision to reinstate the winery and in 2014 the first vintage of the Englar wine was bottled.
Englar wines are made exclusively with grapes from these very vineyards and are processed and bottled directly on the estate.
The organically processed grapes are harvested in such a way that there is a harmonious balance between ripeness and acidity and that no additives other than sulfur need to be added in the cellar. This is the perfect basis to develop puristic and authentic wines. Thanks to generous wood construction and long yeast contact times, we create long-lasting and characteristic wines.
The cellar is equipped with state-of-the-art technical facilities. The cellar’s current capacity is 40,000 bottles and will increase year by year.
Castel Englar Winery goal is excellent wines; and these require the balanced growth of grapevines in a healthy environment, with the right grape varieties matched the soil texture and microclimate and the right choice of trellising. Englar attach great importance to natural methods of grape cultivation and employ careful methods to achieve the distinctive character of each type of wine they produce. They have consciously worked to reduce the yield per hectare of grapes in order to ensure the harvest of high-quality grapes.
Very recently, Castel Englar Winery has joined Shanghai Paper – China Awards 2020 and won Six Gold Medal Awards and Two Silver Medal Awards; Englar indeed the best quality wine and are made exclusively with grapes from these very vineyards and are processed and bottled directly on the estate.
Pinot Blanc Riserva 2017, DOC, Alto Adige, Italy
Awarded Gold by Shanghai Newspaper
The wine has a straw yellow and a light green shimmer, a clean fruity nose of apricot and peach, a light creamy softness and a mineral finesse, a elegant and concentrated finish.
Riesling 2018, DOC, Alto Adige, Italy
Awarded Gold by Shanghai Newspaper
Very fruity nose, nuances of apricot and peach,fresh minerality with good acidity and a lively finish.
Sauvignon Blanc 2018, DOC, Alto Adige, Italy
Awarded Gold by Shanghai Newspaper
A yellow-green lively and expressive Sauvignon with soft and fruity aromas, nose of fresh hay and grasses, hints of elder flowers, green fruits and black currant, distinct acidity with smooth body.
Vernatsch -R- 2016, Riserva, DOC, Alto Adige, Italy
Awarded Gold by Shanghai Newspaper
It is an extraordinary Vernatsch, mild and fruity and a well balanced tannine, with a delicious almondy aftertaste, very rare: Vernatsch RISERVA.
The red wine of our home country as we love it. Silky tannins and a strong body, fresh and drinkable with low alcohol. Almost always fits, even slightly chilled in summer.
Pinot Noir Riserva 2016, Alto Adige, Italy
Awarded Gold by Shanghai Newspaper
It is a fine and sensual red wine with a bright ruby-red colour, pleasant fullness and silky elegance, well balanced fruit and body with fine tannins, very good aging potential.
Passito 2016, Late Harvest, Alto Adige, Italy
Awarded Gold by Shanghai Newspaper
Extremely rich sweet wine, golden amber-colored, concentrated flavour, intense aromas of dried and candied fruits, honey, apricot and roses, well balanced acidity with a concentrated and pleasantly sweet finish. A long-lived wine that will continue to evolve and gain additional complexity and depth of color for years.
Pinot Blanc 2018, DOC, Alto Adige, Italy
Awarded Silver by Shanghai Newspaper
The classic of our region and a wonderful all-rounder. Fresh and invigorating with an aromatic fragrance. A delicate summer wine with charm.
Chardonnay Riserva 2017, DOC, Alto Adige, Italy
Awarded Silver by Shanghai Newspaper
A vigorous and elegant premium wine, very fruity nose, nuances of apricot and peach and smoky vanilla, fresh minerality with fine acidity, a lovely finish with coating tannins and light oak. Excellent aging potential.
Interview of Mr. Johannes Count Khuen-Belasi – Owner of Castel Englar Winery
Question 1: Do you already export to CHINA ? If yes, where ? If no, what
type of importers & distributors are you looking for in CHINA ?
Answer : We are not yet exporting to China, but we very much hope to find importers here who are able to understand and appreciate the effort we put in each day to make the best wine, no matter the cost.
Question 2: What is the most unique and qualitative part of your
products, different from competitors ?
Answer : South Tyrol in Italy has a great winegrowing tradition, which dates back more than 2,000 years. The same goes for our property. At Englar Castle (built in 1450, our family has now lived here for 400 years) we have always grown and produced wine. This tradition is a big responsibility for us and that is why we take maximum care of every phase of winemaking. Every phase, from pruning to harvesting, is done manually at Englar. This can mean that we pass a vine more than 10 times a year. For the harvest alone, we usually pass every vine two or three times, making sure we only harvest the ripest grapes of the highest quality each time. We couldn’t do all of this day by day if we weren’t convinced that there are people out there who appreciate our efforts and who are willing to go on this journey with us.
Question 3: When did you start to export your brand worldwide, and what is your development plan for the next years ?
Answer : We started exporting wine only six year ago. For five years now, we have a new wine cellar in the centre of our property, which has served us well and enabled us to make more wine, while maintaining our high quality standards. In the next few years, we plan to focus our assortment on fever wines with therefore even higher quality and we hope to make our wine an established name within the community of wine enthusiasts.
Thank you Mr. Johannes Count Khuen-Belasi for your time and answers !
For more information about Castel Englar Winery please CLICK HERE:
