Summary
Weingut Kornell in Settequerce near Terlano is one of the smaller but particularly consistent addresses in South Tyrol. Across around 11 hectares, Florian Brigl produces above all structured red wines – Merlot, Lagrein and Cabernet Sauvignon – that spend a long time in wood, alongside clearly drawn whites from Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio and Gewürztraminer. The Kornellhof itself looks back on centuries of winegrowing history; the Brigl family bought it in 1927. Since Florian Brigl took over in 1996 and began bottling his own wines again in 2001, Kornell has made a name for itself as one of Italy's most interesting Merlot addresses.
History
The Kornellhof in Settequerce is an old manor with an exceptionally long winegrowing history: vines have been documented on this site since 1295, and the settlement itself goes back much further. Owners changed several times over the centuries; for a period the estate belonged to a monastic community.
In 1927 the Bolzano wine-merchant family Brigl acquired the property. In the 1950s wines were bottled there under their own label for the first time, but in the decades that followed winegrowing at the estate largely came to a halt. The decisive turn came in 1996 with Florian Brigl, who took over the business, reorganised the vineyards and rebuilt the cellar. From 2001 the estate's own wines were being made there again – and since then the property has carried the name Kornell. Around the turn of the millennium Florian Brigl also formulated his declared goal: to create a Merlot of real stature from South Tyrol.
Location & Terroir
Settequerce (German Siebeneich) lies in the Adige Valley north of Bolzano, where the valley opens out towards the Terlano growing zone. The climate is alpine-Mediterranean: warm, sunny days and markedly cooler nights, as cold air from the surrounding mountains sinks into the valley. These temperature swings are the key to South Tyrolean wines – they preserve acidity and aroma while giving the reds both ripeness and structure.
The estate's vineyards are spread over several parcels: around Settequerce on the valley floor, on the Appiano hillside and in Kampenn above Bolzano. Altitudes range from around 270 up to some 550 metres, with individual plots lying higher still. On the warmer valley floor, with its free-draining gravel and alluvial soils, Merlot and Lagrein do particularly well, while the cooler, airier slopes lend freshness and finesse to the whites and to Pinot Noir.
Style & Philosophy
Kornell works in an emphatically hands-on way: low yields, selective picking and an ageing regime that gives the wines time. The reds ferment in stainless steel and then mature for 14 to 18 months in small and large wooden casks, before resting several more months in bottle – considerably longer in the case of the reserves. The result is wines with dense fruit, fine-grained tannin and spice from the wood, without the varietal character being masked.
With the white wines the estate takes the opposite approach: cool fermentation, an emphasis on fruit, herbal spice and minerality. Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Bianco are the mainstays, joined by Pinot Grigio and Gewürztraminer. Across the board Kornell stands for the union of tradition and precision – an old farmstead with a modern cellar craft.
Notable Sites & Wines
The range is clearly tiered, from varietally true estate wines to the reserves from individual parcels. Among the best-known wines are:
- Kressfeld – Merlot Riserva, the estate's flagship
- Staffes – the reserve line with Merlot, Lagrein and Cabernet Sauvignon from the historic Staffes site
- Oberberg – a Sauvignon Blanc from a higher-lying parcel
- Cosmas (Sauvignon Blanc), Eich (Pinot Bianco), Gris (Pinot Grigio) and Damian (Gewürztraminer)
- Greif (Lagrein), Marith (Pinot Noir) and the blend Zeder
The Merlot Riserva Kressfeld is regarded as the wine in which the estate's ambition shows most clearly: concentrated, long-lived and built for many years of bottle age.
Awards
Kornell is regularly listed by the Italian wine press among the better producers of South Tyrol. The estate's highest distinction is the Tre Bicchieri from Gambero Rosso for the Merlot Riserva Vigna Kressfeld 2016. The reserves of the Staffes line – Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Lagrein – as well as the Sauvignon Blanc Oberberg have also repeatedly earned top scores in the leading guides. For an estate of this size that is a remarkable consistency, and good evidence that South Tyrol stands not only for white wine but for serious, age-worthy reds too.