The 35th edition brings the first 100/100 WineHunter Platinum scores, the first Merano WineFestival Japan in Tokyo, linked live to the opening toast, and on Saturday 7 November 35 sabrages on the Lenoir footbridge. The rest of the story is being written now: explore the site for the programme, the venues and the events.
Theme: “Elegance and Beauty”
Summit with IVES, Teatro Puccini
What happened in 2026+
Friday 6 November: TasteTerroir with the Riesling Days, Cult Oenologist, Extrawine and the GourmetArena; the Gala Dinner in the Kurhaus with Teritoria.
Saturday 7 to Monday 9 November: The Festival — Wine Italia, Next Platinum, Wine International and CERVIM.
Tuesday 10 November: Catwalk Champagne & more and the Emergente Sala awards.
In town, the Fuori Salone on Corso Libertà; inside, a No-Low area, a Rosé Selection, the WH Buyers’ Club and the ICE buyers area.
Vinibuoni d’Italia presents its 2027 guide, as it first did in 2005.
The festival abroad: Georgia since 2022, China since 2023, Brazil since 2025.
bio&dynamica, born in 2005, lives on today as TasteTerroir bio&dynamica.
XXXIV
XXXIV 34th edition
2025
7–11 November 2025 · Kurhaus
Vision: Wine & Food Creators
bio&dynamica &more becomes TasteTerroir – bio&dynamica, now with No/Low wines and the ten Cult Oenologists, honoured at the Teatro Puccini. The first sabrage on the Lenoir footbridge opens the festival; over 8,000 visitors.
June: the first Merano WineFestival Calabria, at Cirò
The first Merano WineFestival Brasil
What happened in 2025+
Presented in Rome, at Palazzo Rospigliosi, on 21 October 2025.
1,300 companies and more than 2,000 wines; 150 buyers from 32 countries; over 300 journalists; 31 masterclasses.
The Fuori Salone welcomes Calabria, Abruzzo and Campania.
XXXIII
XXXIII 33rd edition
2024
8–12 November 2024 · Kurhaus
Quo vadis wine?
The WineHunter Stars are born, and bio&dynamica becomes «bio&dynamica &more», with ever more exhibitors in special categories: underwater wines, amphora wines and PIWI. Catwalk Champagne &more grows too, to take in Italian metodo classico.
What happened in 2024+
bio&dynamica &more opens on 8 November with 160 producers; then 330 Italian and 110 international wineries.
Among the first WineHunter Stars: Gianna Nannini, Oscar Farinetti and Riccardo Cotarella.
A champagne sabrage on the Ponte delle Terme on 9 November.
Catwalk Champagne &more, now with Italian metodo classico too, closes the festival with 120 products.
The “Intrecci di Vite” tastings at the Castello Principesco; the Summit “Respiro e Grido della Terra” returns with IVES to the Teatro Puccini.
Farm Food Festival at the Kurhaus with Gallo Rosso (9 March) and Royal Tasting at the Reggia di Monza (18–19 May).
XXXII
XXXII 32nd edition
2023
3–7 November 2023 · Kurhaus
The WineHunter Scouts
The themeBack to the Roots
For the first time the festival introduces its tasters, the WineHunter Scouts, some with The WineHunter since 1993. And ten ambassadors carry the selection from South America to Japan.
12Scouts
10ambassadors
80producers in Tbilisi
What happened in 2023+
Abroad: Merano WineFestival Georgia (2nd edition, Tbilisi, 350+ wines from 80 producers), the first Merano InterwineFestival China and Italian Wine Day in Stockholm (27 November).
Ten WineHunter Ambassadors: South America, Scandinavia and Canada, China, Japan and Singapore, South Korea, Iberia and more.
«Excellence is an attitude!»: the motto of The WineHunter’s panels.
The Iconic and Unique mentions arrive, with the first Slow Food Earth Market in Piazza della Rena and the second climate Summit at the Teatro Puccini.
bio&dynamica opens on 3 November with 170 companies; The Festival follows on 4–6 November and Catwalk Champagne on the 7th.
Masterclasses at the Hotel Therme Meran; tastings of Masseto, Tignanello and Sassicaia at the Castello Principesco.
XXXI
XXXI 31st edition
2022
4–8 November 2022 · Kurhaus
30 years of dreams
The themeBreath and cry of the Earth
Thirty years after the first festival, the 31st edition puts sustainability on stage: a Summit at the Teatro Puccini, and only products selected by The WineHunter’s panel.
The doors open on Friday 4 November; the inauguration is on Saturday 5, at 6.15 pm, with a sabrage on the promenade steps on Corso Libertà; and the gala grows lighter: from 7 pm the Small Plates Gala, a walking dinner of small plates.
The first Summit «Breath and cry of the Earth» at the Teatro Puccini, over two afternoons: on 4 November water sources, sustainability certifications and «Abruzzo Sostenibile versus New Zealand»; on the 5th fresh water, the sea and restaurants, European food-safety policy and «From Georgia to Naples: 8,000 years of history».
At the Teatro Puccini, on the morning of 5 November, the «Emergente Sala» contest too, which puts its name to the Summit’s toast.
«30 anni di sogni – Merano va in scena»: an evening of short films at the Teatro Puccini and a documentary on the festival’s origins by Carlo Guttadauro.
Wine and architecture: on 28 October the press conference at the Kunsthaus with Casabella, «New Italian Wineries and Architecture»; on 3 November the preview at the Centro per la Cultura, «New wineries. Ageing well: an aim wine and architecture share».
Two sessions with different producers, 4–5 and 6–7 November, in Wine Italia and in «Food Spirits Beer – The WH Food Selection» alike; on 8 November bio&dynamica and Catwalk Champagne & more in the Kurhaus.
16 masterclasses at the Hotel Therme, among them eleven vintages of Terra di Monteverro (2008–2018); over 700 products in two sessions.
In the Sala Czerny, Wine International, with Georgia, cider and the Consorzio Valtènesi, beside the New Entries.
The WineHunter Area on the Kursaal stage, by style: sparkling, whites and rosés, reds, amphora wines, sweet wines and Abruzzo.
Consortium & Territorium: Primitivo di Manduria, the Lombard consortia united in AsCoViLo with the Wine Routes, Trento DOC with its sparkling-wine houses, Oltrepò Pavese, Conegliano Valdobbiadene, Soave and Lessini Durello; and the Vinibuoni d’Italia stand.
The Buyering & Financial Area is born: 24 companies looking for importers and investors, with a Club every day at the Hotel Therme and a party at the Enoteca Cantina di Merano.
The GourmetArena on the promenade, with two regions in focus: «Campania Felix» and a new Abruzzo format, «Abruzzo Sostenibile»; showcooking every day, a Campania Region masterclass and the exclusive dinners «Abruzzo Sostenibile» and «Georgia & Campania».
On Corso Libertà, the Fuori Salone «Red Wave» with the consortia of Sannio, Barbera d’Asti and Monferrato, Oltrepò and «Wine Campania Felix» (Caserta, Irpinia, Salerno, Vesuvius); and every day the talks of the Academy of Italo-German Studies: Malvasia, convent wines, low-alcohol wines, amphorae, maritime wines.
On the last day, 8 November, «Nel segno di Zierock: il Premio»; the Arunda masterclass in which the festival pays tribute to Arunda’s Sepp Reiterer, there already in 1997, and an exhibition by Michael Reiterer; Itinerari Miscelati in the Sala Rotunde and «Pipe & Champagne» on the Kurhaus terrace.
Two books presented, «Il Bicchiere d’Argento» and «I Vini del Cuore»; and in the Kurhaus the Club Amici del Sigaro Toscano.
XXX
XXX 30th edition
2021
5–9 November 2021 · Kurhaus
The 30th, in sessions
The themeLe ali della bellezza
The 30th could not be the grand celebration it deserved: capped entry, constant disinfection, masks. The sessions were born, with different producers in each session, and for the first time the festival moved into the hotels: the WineHunter Hotel Safari, out as far as Scena, Marlengo and Postal.
13hotels
20regions
5days
What happened in 2021+
Sessions: Wine Italia in two (Fri–Sat, Sun–Mon), bio&dynamica «Naturae et Purae» in five.
WineHunter Hotel Safari: 13 hotels in Merano, Scena, Marlengo and Postal, each pouring its own regions.
Fuorisalone «Merano WineCitylife» on Corso Libertà, with Gino Sorbillo; CatwalkRosé under the arcades.
«Beauty will save the world»: welcome to the 30th at the Teatro Puccini, with Carlo Guttadauro’s film «L’Heure Exquise».
A gala in the Kursaal on 6 November; Catwalk Champagne on the 9th.
About 5,000 visitors and more than 600 exhibitors; the first Italian network of PIWI wines, «Resistenti Nicola Biasi», was presented.
The Premio Godio was still awarded, and Vinibuoni d’Italia held its awards at the Teatro Puccini.
XXIX
XXIX 29th edition
2020
6–10 November 2020 · online · WineHunter Hub
Merano WineFestival Digital
The LeitmotivMWF goes digital
The pandemic moves the festival online: the WineHunter Hub and a video schedule, more than 200 producers presented by The WineHunter. But no screen replaces a real tasting.
200+producers on video
300+videos by The WineHunter
What happened in 2020+
WineHunter Hub: the digital platform by Gourmet’s International and ForTeam, pre-opening on 14 October.
A schedule on the website: videos of 200+ producers and 300+ short videos in which The WineHunter presents each one.
The main videos live on the YouTube channel, on a fixed schedule.
Online: Georgia – The Origin of Wine, Naturae et Purae bio&dynamica, Catwalk Champagne & more, Xenia – Emergente Sala.
Planned in person with at most 500 people at a time, 4 m² each and staggered entry.
The in-person dates move to 26–30 March 2021 and are cancelled on 16 February 2021.
The 2019 WineFestival Journal stays one of a kind: in 2020 the festival goes online.
2010s
XXVIII
XXVIII 28th edition
2019
8–12 November 2019 · Kurhaus
The festival in town
Helmuth Köcher, WineFestival JournalFor me quality, above all in wine, is always a matter of emotion.
The festival spreads across the city with the 28th’s novelty: the Fuori Salone grows into «Merano WineCitylife», reaching from its red carpet on Corso Libertà into the whole city; «The Circle», in its second and last edition, on Piazza della Rena; the «Meran Spirit» evenings. Every day a charity auction in the Kurhaus and charity masterclasses at the Hotel Terme, for projects in Africa.
950wineries
11,500visitors
Culinaria becomes «Food Spirits Beer – The Official Selection», in the GourmetArena
What happened in 2019+
The festival’s first and only newspaper: the «WineFestival Journal», one A3 page a day for visitors, the press office, the VIP entrance and the buyers’ area.
Gala Dinner in the Kurhaus on the first evening, dedicated to Giorgio Grai, after «The wines of Riccardo Cotarella».
On Friday 8 November the first Premio Rainer Zierock, for a young South Tyrolean winemaker following in his footsteps, with a «Round Zierock» and a Dolomytos masterclass; the Premio Godio the day before.
«Sabrage Vin Mousseux» on Corso Libertà, Friday 8 November.
Exclusive Legend Tasting: Sassicaia, Tenuta San Guido, at the Ansitz Plantitscherhof.
WH Award Platinum for food, spirits and beer at the vigilius mountain resort; at the Teatro Puccini, Vinibuoni d’Italia and «Wine Sustainability Outlooks».
“If you follow my teachings, you will drink an excellent wine”: in the sign of Leonardo, 500 years on, a space in the Kursaal and the round table «Le donne e il vino».
XXVII
XXVII 27th edition
2018
9–13 November 2018 · Kurhaus
Nature and purity
The first two days belong to nature and purity: a symposium in the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle, «Wild Cooking» on the Sandplatz, and bio&dynamica in the Kurhaus and the historic Thermes. And the Emergente Sala prize for young front-of-house talent, born in 2015, reaches its third edition: «Xenia».
11,000+visitors
8symposium talks
6Wild Cooking chefs
The first edition of The Circle
What happened in 2018+
Some 950 wineries in the Official Selection; 25 WineHunter Platinum wines.
Symposium «Wine: poison or food?» in the Trauttmansdorff Gardens, opened by Helmuth Köcher: honey, fermented grains, the ancestral method, the Mediterranean diet, natural wine and the first multi-market report on «SOLA» wines.
The first edition of The Circle on the Sandplatz: a bistro, a press lounge, salons, jazz and a stage with tastings until midnight; on Friday it hosts the Wild Cooking with six chefs, among them Alfio Ghezzi, PIWI wines and a round table, «The wine to come».
Extremis on the Kursaal stage; «Vino in Vulcano» and «Rosé – Vino in Futuro» in the Sala Czerny; New Entries on Monday in the Pavillon des Fleurs.
The GourmetArena on the Sissi promenade with more than 120 companies; Territorium Abruzzo and Territorium Campania; BeerPassion and Aquavitae on the Passer promenade; «Spirits Experience» seminars at the Hotel Aurora.
Climatologist Georg Kaser at the Teatro Puccini round table.
Catwalk Champagne closes on Tuesday 13 in the Kursaal, with a showcooking by Karl Baumgartner (Schöneck) and Champagne Marguerite Guyot.
XXVI
XXVI 26th edition
10–14 November 2017 · Kurhaus
The WineHunter Award is born
Since thenThe WineHunter is the guarantor of quality and excellence; the festival, the stage that celebrates the best products of each season.
Award and festival part ways: the Merano Award becomes The WineHunter Award, with the same tiers, Rosso, Gold and Platinum. No longer a ranking within one event, but a free online guide to excellent products of every kind and, with the EuroTour, a promise of quality in many markets beyond the Italian home market.
4,000+labels evaluated
450+wineries
200food artisans
What happened in 2017+
«Naturae et Purae», Friday 10 November: 104 producers of organic, biodynamic, natural and PIWI wines, and orange wines for the first time.
Wine Italia with 800+ Italian wines; Wine International in the Sala Czerny with 250+ wines from Spain to Argentina, Lebanon to South Africa.
For the last time the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, within Wine International, with a masterclass on Saturday 11 November.
Chef Arena «Cooking Farm»: 15 international chefs alongside South Tyrol’s farm women, keepers of the local cuisine.
Masterclasses at the Hotel Terme, with the proceeds going to projects in Benin.
Catwalk Champagne in the Kursaal closes the festival on Tuesday 14 November.
XXV
XXV 25th edition
4–8 November 2016 · Kurhaus
Rosso · Gold · Platinum
Beside Rosso and Gold, the Merano Award gains a third and highest tier: Platinum. The 25th also brings the first Merano Wine Film Festival, on Sunday 6 November, with a documentary produced by Helmuth Köcher; in the Kurhaus only wines scoring 86/100 or more.
300+Italian wineries
25Platinum winners
20charity masterclasses
The challenge: 5 South Tyrolean farm women v. 5 Michelin-starred chefs
bio&dynamica finally moves into the Kursaal
What happened in 2016+
«Cooking Farm», the Chef’s Challenge: five South Tyrolean farm women and five Michelin-starred chefs cook live, a show at the stoves, and the public tastes every dish on the spot.
For the first time in 25 years the GourmetArena opens on Friday afternoon, for trade and press only; and Wine International opens on Friday too, with a focus on Lebanon and Georgia, «a return to the origins of wine».
20 Charity Wine Masterclasses for the Gruppo Missionario Merano’s projects in Benin, with Masters of Wine Julia Harding and Lisa Granik.
«Extremis», The WineHunter’s selection of wines from extreme conditions, alongside «New Entries» and «Beer Passion».
Catwalk Champagne closes the 25th with more than 220 champagnes.
About 700 exhibitors, more than 500 on a waiting list, and the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, with 25 historic châteaux.
A preview at the Maia racecourse during the 77th Gran Premio, a first Rome event at the end of November, and a charity amatriciana for Amatrice.
XXIV
XXIV 24th edition
2015
5–10 November 2015 · Kurhaus
The first Catwalk Champagne
It opens with bio&dynamica, some 90 organic and biodynamic producers; the Merano Wine Forum talks climate, and the first Catwalk Champagne closes the festival. Also new: the «Cooking Farm», the Charity Masterclasses and the Emergente Sala prize.
What happened in 2015+
300 wineries, 150 international producers and 100 food artisans; 15 tasting panels and over 3,500 wines for the Merano Wine & Culinaria Awards.
A focus on Georgia, the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, an evening at the Teatro Puccini.
A certified Green Event.
«Cooking Farm», the first edition: ten chefs against South Tyrolean farm women, with Genagricola.
The first Charity Wine Masterclasses, for the Gruppo Missionario Merano.
XXIII
XXIII 23rd edition
2014
7–10 November 2014 · Kurhaus
Cult: the pioneers of top quality
Cult is born: 40 producers who wrote the history of Italian wine, three wines each for past, present and future, before 250 guests in the Pavillon des Fleurs, a return to the origins of 1992. And the Merano Wine & Culinary Award becomes the Merano Award: one name for wines and food alike, promising excellence itself rather than a type of product.
40Cult producers
500+wineries
10tasting panels
What happened in 2014+
Guest country Romania: the 15 leading wineries of a wine land with 6,000 years of history.
bio&dynamica turns 10: 84 Italian and European winegrowers.
The round table «Italia, quo vadis?», led by Giacomo Mojoli.
The first preview at the racecourse: «Horses & Wine», 27–28 September, at the 75th Gran Premio Merano Forst.
WineWorld Economic Forum on sustainability and exports, on the road to Expo 2015; the festival is certified a «Going Green Event».
A taste of the festival in Rome: Roma Food & Wine Festival with Eataly and Identità Golose, 29 Nov – 1 Dec, with 18 great chefs.
Beer Passion with some 15 craft breweries, Forst as partner.
Of the 40 at Cult, at least 11 already poured in 1995.
XXII
XXII 22nd edition
2013
8–11 November 2013 · Kurhaus
The MWF Dialogues
At the Teatro Puccini the MWF Dialogues, talks and round tables, foreshadow today’s Summit. And 30 New Entries, up-and-coming producers set apart from the long-standing guarantors of quality, have the potential to return.
Guest country Georgia, «the cradle of viticulture»: Helmuth Köcher picks 5 wineries at a Kvevri Wines Association tasting.
Bruno Vespa presents the «Manifesto 2014», signed by ten of the sector’s leading figures.
For the first time, 10 Italian wine consortia get their own space in the festival tent.
The Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, celebrating its 40th anniversary, comes with 30 vignerons.
The Merano Chef Challenge debuts in the GourmetArena, a contest among the great names of Italian cooking.
Culinaria becomes more selective, some sixty artisans, and «Rue de Chef» shows premium ingredients for restaurants only.
14 guided tastings by Helmuth Köcher and Ian D’Agata at the Hotel Terme.
Some 6,500 visitors, 5% more; the MWF Dialogues, a workshop of ideas and proposals for the wine world in a time of crisis, bring together experts such as Oscar Farinetti, Riccardo Illy, Joe Bastianich, Roberto Cipresso, Attilio Scienza, Paolo Marchi and Ian D’Agata.
XXI
XXI 21st edition
9–12 November 2012 · Kurhaus
An exclusive event for gourmets
The logo is renewed: the frame around the glass, the festival’s emblem since 1993, becomes a fine line, simpler and more modern, while the glass stays solid. The theme of the year is eco-sustainability, interpreted by 13 chefs in the GourmetArena.
13chefs
100+Culinaria artisans
10guided tastings
The oldest wine: a 1930
What happened in 2012+
10 great guided tastings led by Ian D’Agata raise funds for the earthquake victims of Emilia and L’Aquila, among them Masseto, Sassicaia, Monprivato and Nonino’s reserves.
Old-vintage Monday, and mini-verticals of three to five vintages: the oldest is a 1930 Villa di Capezzana Riserva.
Club Excellence, founded in July 2012, the leading importers of fine wines and spirits, presents itself to the public for the first time.
Culinaria passes 100 artisans: oils, vinegars from old Emilian acetaie, rare cheeses, culatello, panettoni.
Opening Gala Dinner on Friday after bio&dynamica; Vinibuoni d’Italia presents its 2013 guide with Mario Busso.
300 Italian wineries, 20 in the «Extremis» selection, 29 emerging, 100 international with 26 Bordeaux châteaux; 13 craft breweries.
Bordeaux en primeur 2011, shown outside France for the first time.
XX
XX 20th edition
2011
4–7 November 2011 · Kurhaus
Shock Cuisine
The 20th anniversary: the GourmetArena leaves Piazza Terme for the Culinaria tent on the Passer promenade, so every section of the festival can be reached without leaving its venues. And the Fuori Salone rolls its red carpet over the whole of Corso Libertà for the first time, with new containers giving room to consortia and regions.
32Bordeaux châteaux
100food artisans
37New Entries
What happened in 2011+
For the first time a space devoted to one country: South Africa, with fifteen of its most representative wineries.
«Shock Cuisine», the theme chefs and the gala take on in the GourmetArena.
Monday: old vintages over ten years old, and 37 New Entries, young wineries still almost unknown.
Culinaria, with the GourmetArena at the end of its pavilion next to the Kurhaus: about 100 artisans in three sections, Excellence, Tradition & Innovation, Territory.
The wine world: from Germany to New Zealand, Serbia to Chile, and 32 historic Bordeaux châteaux.
bio&dynamica on Friday 4 November in the Pavillon des Fleurs, with 50 wineries.
In February, the second Roma VinoExcellence & MWF.
XIX
XIX 19th edition
2010
5–8 November 2010 · Kurhaus
Merano WineFestival
The LeitmotivVin et Chapeau
On the poster the name becomes today’s: Merano WineFestival. Philippe Castéja, president of the Conseil des Grands Crus Classés en 1855, is there to represent the Grands Crus; also in the glass, the world’s highest wines, grown at 3,111 metres in Argentina, and those of Europe’s steepest vineyard.
664selected producers
330+journalists
The «Emergenti» become «New Entries»
What happened in 2010+
Friday 5, the prelude: bio&dynamica in the Pavillon des Fleurs with 50 producers, and the inaugural gala evening.
New: WineResort, selected producers who also run a wine resort present their hospitality.
35 châteaux of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, most of them from the 1855 classification, and India’s most exclusive winery, advised by Michel Rolland.
Culinaria with 100 artisans, BeerPassion with 12 breweries, Aquavitae & Liquores with 17 distillers.
GourmetArena on Piazza Terme with Regione Campania and the Caserta Chamber of Commerce: showcooking by chefs of the Jeunes Restaurateurs d’Europe; and the year’s provocation, Tomaž Kavčič’s bear with polenta.
What used to be the «Emergenti» section becomes «New Entries»: up-and-coming producers, set apart from the long-standing guarantors of quality, with the potential to return.
The guide of the «XIX Edition» carries the Merano Wine & Culinaria Award.
Before the festival the Premio Godio finalists cook on the Schwemmalm in the Ultental, Godio’s own valley; among the year’s other news, the Riesling, the CERVIM competition, UNICEF and a special MWF postmark.
2000s
XVIII
XVIII 18th edition
2009
6–9 November 2009 · Kurhaus
The year of the awards
The 18th is the year of the awards: the Special Award to Roberto Cipresso and Enrico Derflingher, the best dry and sweet Rieslings at the Teatro Puccini, and the «Premio Terroir – Merano Wine & Culinaria Award» for 17 Italian wines and two sparkling wines.
Premio Godio 2009 to 19-year-old Elias Schwienbacher of St. Gertraud, presented on 17 October on the Schwemmalm in the Ultental.
Best dry Riesling: Rebholz, Kastanienbusch GG 2008; best sweet: von Othegraven, Kanzemer Altenberg TBA 2007, among the VDP estates.
EuroTour 2009: the Baltic States, Moscow, Munich, Vienna, plus New York, Budapest and Kharkiv, with 3,400 visitors, 1,400 of them from the trade; one importer from each stop came to Merano.
Guests: 31 châteaux of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, 25 VDP estates and 18 Champagne houses; and the «Centum», the hundred Italian estates.
bio&dynamica moves into the Kurhaus, in the Pavillon des Fleurs; new: «Iuvenes», the «Vini Futuri»: 26 young producers.
The GourmetArena stays on Piazza Terme, with CookingXWine on 7–9 November.
Culinaria grows too small, and BeerPassion becomes a section of its own, devoted entirely to beer.
The key visual is the two statues on the Kurhaus balustrade, Hebe and Flora, unveiled by the press office in September.
The umbrella name «Merano WineFestival & Gourmet 2009», from 31 October to 9 November, with the GourmetHotel Collection and the Locande del Gusto.
The 25 VDP Riesling estates together for the first time, with a vertical back to 1959.
Opening night with 500 guests: 18 candles to Verdi’s «Brindisi» and a WineGlass sound & light performance.
Gualtiero Marchesi’s «Lectio Mirabilis» in the GourmetArena; on Monday, «vinosofia» with Roberto Cipresso and Attilio Scienza.
A presentation on the Orient-Express, Venice–Bolzano, on 14 October; on 24 November the Michelin Italia 2010 at the Castel Principesco: South Tyrol is Italy’s leading province for starred restaurants (16).
XVII
XVII 17th edition
2008
8–10 November 2008 · Kurhaus
Bacchus, “under divine presence”
Fewer crowds, more festival: after 2007’s record Saturday, Helmuth Köcher raises every ticket price, Saturday’s most of all, so the public spreads over the three days: 6,000 visitors, some 17% fewer, by choice. A festival is measured by the quality of its encounters, not by the size of its crowd — and a hall too full is no longer a safe one.
6,000visitors
480producers
3days
Since then the Saturday ticket has cost more, to this day
Spared the feared crush, producers have time to explain and pour at ease.
Centum 100, Italia Excellentis 195, Extremis 18 and an International Selection of 226; Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux 43, Grand Cru Österreich 25, Vins d’Alsace 18.
A journey across borders: Austrian, German, Portuguese and French estates alongside Italy’s great names; the Austrians in the Sala Goethe.
Polz and Triebaumer among the Austrians: two names already on the 1995 and 1999 lists.
New sections AnimaTerra and Aquavitae & Liquores; a truffle auction linked with Tokyo, and for the first time five lots sold from Merano.
bio&dynamica, fourth edition: 80 wineries at Castel Kallmünz on 7–8 November.
The festival travels Europe on the Euro Tour, for the first time to Moscow too, to the State Historical Museum on Red Square, with 54 wineries; in Merano, 480 producers.
The year’s theme is Bacchus, «under divine presence»: the key visual is the fresco «Bacchus and Vesuvius» from Pompeii (National Archaeological Museum of Naples); official partner, Regione Campania.
The opening, for the first time in the Kursaal, with Michel Rolland as guest of honour; the ticket goes from €70 to €85.
The first GourmetHotelCollection, 1–3 November in the GourmetArena: Italy’s first «Gourmet-Hotel» rating.
Vins d’Alsace and Grand Cru Österreich make their debut; 15 leading German estates come to Merano for the first time.
The Gardens of Trauttmansdorff and Laimburg at the festival for the first time, with the history of South Tyrolean wine in the VIP lounge; and the second presentation on the Orient-Express.
On 20 November the Michelin Guide Italia 2009 is presented for the first time in Merano too, as well as in Milan.
XVI
XVI 16th edition
2007
10–12 November 2007 · Kurhaus
GourmetArena
The GourmetArena opens: a tent on Piazza Terme mainly for showcooking, with fifteen chefs, and product presentations, with tastings such as olive oils from all over Italy side by side.
7,200visitors (approx.)
3,000+Saturday 10 November, a record
50,000bottles tasted
The name: Merano International WineFestival & Culinaria
What happened in 2007+
For the first time 27 Burgundy producers leave home to pour their 2005 Grands and Premiers Crus.
A world white-truffle auction, live with Alba, Berlin and Hong Kong, as since 2006: pieces up to €12,000, proceeds to the Allegra Agnelli Foundation for cancer research.
Gelardini & Romani wine auction: 350 lots, 800 bottles, and an imperial of Masseto 2001 sold for €6,900.
«Cooking for Wine» by Luigi Cremona in the new GourmetArena: 15 top chefs, from Pierangelini, Corelli and Scabin to the young Cuttaia, Lopriore and Colagreco.
The Georgian delegation presents the Trauttmansdorff Castle Gardens with a golden copy of the world’s oldest grape seed, 8,000 years old.
I Cento, 143 Italian Top Selected, 17 Extremis, 35 Dulcis, 36 Bordeaux and 27 Burgundy, from 13 countries.
Saturday 10 November is the record day: an estimated 3,000-plus visitors in a single day, not counting the producers and staff at work.
The first presentation on the Orient-Express: on 31 October, in the bar car of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express from Venice to Verona; the first time the train has hosted a wine house.
The Guide 2007/08 in bookshops for the first time; and the festival’s first VIP lounge, with Air Dolomiti and Munich Airport.
The year’s leitmotif is an untitled painting by Ulrich Moroder (180 × 130 cm) at the Kurhaus entrance; with «Art & Wine», the installations «Scenari divini» by 23 RAI set designers.
At the opening, the motto «Elitist in alpine elegance»; and «L’Élite»: eight 100/100 wines at Trauttmansdorff Castle, with Ian D’Agata and Bernard Burtschy.
bio&dynamica, third edition: 75 wineries at Castel Katzenzungen.
Ten tasting panels; 468 wineries and 123 food artisans.
XV
XV 15th edition
2006
11–13 November 2006 · Kurhaus
The rainbow of the senses
Culinaria celebrates ten editions, and the opening leaves Merano for the first time: at Castel Tirolo, with a torchlight procession. Cooking for Wine is born with 17 Michelin-starred chefs, the Vinibuoni d’Italia get a section of their own, and in spring the festival stops in London.
44Bordeaux châteaux
8tasting panels
36South Tyrolean winegrowers
Culinaria’s tenth edition
What happened in 2006+
3,547 wines submitted, three quarters of them Italian, and eight tasting panels: oenologists, restaurateurs, wine merchants, hoteliers, journalists, sommeliers, wine lovers and gourmets.
Monday belongs to South Tyrol: 36 winegrowers give a 360° view of the region’s viticulture.
Sections of their own for Le Donne del Vino and for Vinibuoni d’Italia: some 75 wineries awarded by the Touring Club guide for native-grape wines.
The One Hundred, Top Selected, Dulcis in Fundo, 10 consortia and 20 Vinis Extremis, growers working in extreme conditions of climate, altitude, slope, soil and winemaking.
Among the international greats, three names already there in 1995: André Ostertag, Yves Cuilleron and Fred Loimer.
Two separate events: bio&dynamica on 10 November at Castel Katzenzungen, and VinoCulti («Mr Lagrein receives Mrs Nero d’Avola») on 10–11 November at Castel Tirolo, which also hosts the opening, the first outside Merano.
In March, the Gourmet’s Italia London WineFestival at Olympia, with 45 wineries.
The motto: «Savouring the rainbow of the senses heightens the joy of living.»
Cooking for Wine, by Luigi Cremona: 17 Michelin-starred chefs live, from Vissani to Niederkofler and Romito; on Sunday evening Massimo Bottura and Mauro Uliassi.
For the first time in South Tyrol, the world auction of Alba white truffles, live from Grinzane Cavour with Hong Kong and Paris.
For the first time, limited entry to the Kurhaus; and Culinaria’s products can also be bought, at a shop in front of the entrance.
The Premio Godio to Franz Mulser, presented by Gianfranco Vissani.
Gourmet Active, «spinning, wine & food», and the first Merano International WineFestival Cup at Golf Meran-Passeier.
The Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle adopt the Versoaln vine of Castel Katzenzungen, some 350 years old.
XIV
XIV 14th edition
12–14 November 2005 · Kurhaus
The Award is born
First Leitmotiv · Zierock’s pentagonUnique international elite wines, marked by intensity, depth, elegance, breadth and extraordinary character.
On Friday 11 November, the eve of the festival, the first Merano Wine & Culinary Award honours every producer chosen by the panel; bio&dynamica is born too, at Castel Katzenzungen.
1,200+wineries applied
100+food producers
12Vinis Extremis, the first
Today: the WineHunter Award
A record at the time: over 6,300 visitors
What happened in 2005+
Premiere: the WineFestival’s own anthem on CD, with didgeridoo, violin and a barrique drum, premiered live by Matthias Pflug’s ensemble at the official opening.
“Music and wine fit together like two pieces of a mosaic” — Helmuth Köcher at the opening gala.
A gold seal on the packaging carries the selection to the consumer, for a single vintage: I Cento, Italia Top Selected, dulcis in fundo, Culinaria and, for the first time, Vinis Extremis, wines born in extreme conditions.
Nearly 400 wineries chosen from more than 1,200: 100 established and 100 emerging Italian, 80 foreign, 40 Bordeaux châteaux, 9 consortia, 44 sweet-wine producers and 12 Vinis Extremis; and more than 100 food producers.
Vinibuoni d’Italia presents its guide at the Merano International WineFestival for the first time, and still does today: 115 «Corone» awarded at the Teatro Comunale, with Luca Missoni.
Autumn 2005: Gourmet’s Italia in Munich and Vienna, Acquavitae, bio&dynamica and Ein Prosit in Tarvisio, the busiest season yet.
A wine auction for UNICEF on the Kurhaus’s second floor, between the Sala Lentner and the Sala Czerny, for a humanitarian project.
The first «Vintners Evening», a night just for the selected producers, at the Manincor estate.
Gaudenda, «the festival after the festival», on 12–13 November in the Kurmittelhaus: the anthem’s music, spirits, cigars and food.
Gourmet’s Italia for the first time in Luxembourg, on 27 April, and in Vienna, on 20 October.
The Premio Godio to Jörg Trafojer, on the theme of South Tyrolean cheese; 320 accredited journalists.
XIII
XIII 13th edition
2004
6–8 November 2004 · Kurhaus
The first preview: Munich
For the first time the festival has its own official preview: 16–17 October at the Praterinsel in Munich. In November the Kurhaus hosts the 13th edition, with the 8th Culinaria.
100“I Cento”
108to discover
14countries
Spotlight: Marche and Puglia, 40 wineries
Gala night in the Pavillon des Fleurs: Niederkofler and Hans Haas (Tantris)
What happened in 2004+
More than 1,200 wineries applied from around the world; eight panels tasted over 3,000 wines blind; 400 made it.
“It is a very strict selection, to guarantee truly unique products. The producer’s own presence lets visitors meet the person behind a great wine.” — Helmuth Köcher
«I Cento»: three wines each — the flagship, the second wine and the best value — from 17 of Italy’s 20 regions.
68 international wineries from 14 countries, with Australia, Chile and Croatia new.
The GourmetFestival’s second edition: dinners at Castel Katzenzungen and a «Walk and Dine» at Manincor.
The first EU-funded course: 15 event managers trained on the festival.
Munich also gives a stage to selected producers who found no room in Merano: 116 wineries, more than 400 wines.
The first certificates for producers selected for at least ten editions, presented by Bruno Gambacorta (Tg2 «Eat Parade») on 5 November at Merano Arte, with the Premio Cristal IV.
The website www.meranowinefestival.com is born; tickets at €60, €100 and €140, open until 19:00 on Saturday and Sunday.
The book «11 fotografi 1 vino!», with photographs by Helmut Newton, Don McCullin, Ferdinando Scianna and Franco Fontana.
The second «Ein Prosit in Tarvis», 1–5 December, with 15 wineries previewed at the festival.
XII
XII 12th edition
2003
8–10 November 2003 · Kurhaus
The essence of the essence
From January to July seven panels taste blind: only the best reach the Kurhaus, each with its producer in person.
3,189wines tasted
1,184wineries
329at the festival
First GourmetFestival Südtirol: 6 international star chefs
Sicily: best region of the 2003 selection
What happened in 2003+
The panels judge with Rainer Zierock’s pentagon and, even before the Award, score in points: the official list names the wines above 80/100.
Producers or winemakers present in person, at most three wines each.
The GourmetFestival: dinners by pairs of starred chefs at Trauttmansdorff Castle and the Laimburg rock cellar.
The opening at the Kunsthaus with the Premio Cristall; on Monday, masterclasses with Bordeaux château owners.
Culinaria’s seventh edition: some 66 family producers in a pavilion on the promenade.
The partnership with the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux is sealed: until 2017, more than 100 labels of the finest French wines travel to Merano.
A one-off spring event, 28 March – 6 April: «Merano in the Danube Monarchy – Living and Enjoying», with the wine tasting on 29 and 30 March in the Pavillon des Fleurs and a gala night in the Kursaal on recipes of the imperial era, Viennese music and service in period costume.
A new section: Primitivo, with 6 producers.
The first «Italia in Gusto», at the Palais Esplanade: the Marche, Basilicata, Abruzzo and Trentino-Alto Adige, some 50 producers.
The first «Ein Prosit in Tarvis», 5–7 December, at the Palazzo Veneziano in Malborghetto: «100% Vigneto Italia», with a preview at the festival.
On Monday, natural cork against synthetic stopper in a tasting with the magazine Porthos.
A UNICEF auction of large formats for the project «Zambia – care for HIV-positive children».
4,523 qualified visitors; tickets at €55, €95 and €130.
XI
XI 11th edition
2002
9–11 November 2002 · Kurhaus
South Tyrol, region of the year
The mottoOur work: to taste and select, for others, the very best from all over the world.
The blind selection tastings name South Tyrol Italy’s best wine region. 50 châteaux of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux come to the Kurhaus, in a year they chose only Tokyo, New York, St Petersburg and Merano.
14 September: after Nigel Kennedy’s «Four Seasons» at the Merano Music Weeks, a first tasting of festival wines, the seed of today’s Anteprime.
4,621 qualified visitors at a deliberately high price: two in three from the trade, almost three in ten from abroad; 70% come in on the producers’ own invitations.
From January, five panels in South Tyrol, Lombardy and Friuli; 95 blind tastings, the best to a final in Merano — stricter than the guides, 4–5 points below them on average.
The One Hundred, 61 emerging producers, 45 international producers from 12 countries, six consortia, Culinaria’s sixth edition; and «Dulcis in Fundo» is born, twelve Italian sweet-wine producers.
AIS Bolzano tastings for the region of the year — the longevity of Vernatsch, Bordeaux against the Freie Weinbauern Südtirol — and the Southtyrol World Wine Challenge: South Tyrol’s festival wines tasted against international ones.
Official presentation of «Il Pentagono», the new evaluation system; the book «Vigneto Italia» is presented at the festival.
Students of the Kaiserhof hotel school work at the festival, as in 2001: a course in theory and practice at the producers’ tables.
X
X 10th edition
2001
10–12 November 2001 · Kurhaus · Palais Esplanade
Ten editions, with Luigi Veronelli
The tenth edition spreads to the Palais Esplanade and welcomes 26 châteaux of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux; it opens at the new Kunsthaus Meran, with the producers’ labels on show.
100“I Cento”
90emerging
14countries abroad
What happened in 2001+
The One Hundred are chosen on their results in the major guides and at past editions; the Emerging on the trade press and a tasting panel’s verdict.
The One Hundred from 18 regions, Valle d’Aosta to Sardinia, 7 promoted from the previous year’s Emerging; 90 Emerging producers, 38 in Tuscany alone.
For the first time The One Hundred, the Emergents and the international producers follow one regional itinerary.
Top producers from 14 countries, from Armenia to New Zealand.
A gala dinner at the Hotel Tivoli and a charity auction of large-format bottles at the Palace Hotel, for UNICEF.
Seminars by Luigi Veronelli, Ian D’Agata and Monika Kellermann.
37 of the One Hundred had already poured in 1995.
IX
IX 9th edition
2000
11–13 November 2000 · Kurhaus
In the millennium year
In the millennium year the festival returns to three days, Monday for the trade only, and beside I Cento it opens a section for the winegrowers of Saint-Émilion. Gourmet’s International buys back the shares and is again the sole organiser.
3,500visitors
242producers
500trade visitors on Monday
What happened in 2000+
The One Hundred from Italy, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, France, Spain and South Africa.
Culinaria & Vitis: Culinaria, the Emergents, selected South Tyrolean producers, the consortia and «Les Vignobles de Bordeaux».
Saporita at the Kurhaus, 20–22 May, with the Bolzano trade fair: 80 producers, native-grape wines and typical products from Italy’s regions.
Caseus 2000, Luigi Cremona’s preview: the first national contest for cheese tasters, crowning the «Master of Cheese 2000».
The fourth Culinaria, in the Pavillon des Fleurs.
The catalogue in book format, 15,000 copies; «nearly four thousand visitors in three days, 15% more», by the press office’s count.
Tickets: 80,000, 140,000 or 200,000 lire for one, two or three days.
1990s
VIII
VIII 8th edition
1999
6–7 November 1999 · Kurhaus
Two souls, two names
To keep the halls from crowding, the festival gives itself two souls and two names: «I Cento», the great estates of eight countries, and «Culinaria & Vitis», wine and food together. The Gourmet Dinner in the Kurhaus foreshadows today’s Gala.
100“The One Hundred”
8countries
6verticals
«I Cento»: the name was born in 1999 and is still in use today in Wine Italia
Aqua Vitae: 2nd Distillates Salon, Kurhaus, 27–28 Feb
What happened in 1999+
Culinaria & Vitis in five sections: Culinaria, the Emergents in their second year, the New Autochthons, selected South Tyrolean producers, and halls for the consortia and Italy’s best cheeses.
The Grand Jury Européen returns for the second time and ranks the Bordeaux crus classés; «Le Grand Vin de Bordeaux» at the Hotel Palace, 300 seats, châteaux poured by their own producers.
The motto: «A festival, not a trade fair!»
Hotel-school students from the Kaiserhof work at the festival, earning a certificate of attendance.
Six verticals, the oldest wine a 1963 Marsala Florio.
The Gourmet Dinner on 6 November in the Kurhaus restaurant, cooked by Aldo Teston of the «Roma» in Brussels.
In spring, «Grappa & Co.» (Panfilo · Köcher), the first of a series of guides.
VII
VII 7th edition
1998
7–9 November 1998 · Kurhaus
A festival, not a trade fair!
Three days in the Kurhaus, the third for the trade only. Culinaria moves into the Kurhaus, «the festival of food within the festival of wine»; every producer also brings a barrel sample, and the Grand Jury Européen tastes in Merano for the first time.
100«The Best»
30emerging
40Culinaria artisans
Premio Godio, 5th edition: Sepp Wenter’s rainbow trout (Bad Schörgau)
Aqua Vitae, the first distillates salon, 28–29 March
«Gli Emergenti» begin: 30 young producers in the Sala Lentner
What happened in 1998+
Culinaria’s second edition.
The Premio Godio’s fifth edition crowns a rainbow-trout dish, handed over at the festival on 7 November.
The second Fine Wine Encounter in London, with Decanter.
«Le Grand Vin de Bordeaux» at the Hotel Palace, Saturday 7 November: 300 seats.
For the first time Lebanon (Château Musar, with Serge Hochar) and Greece (Skouras).
The name now opens with the town: «Merano International Wine Festival».
At most 1,300 visitors a day; 80,000 lire for one day, 140,000 for two.
The catalogue’s motto: «Sun, air and soil are not enough to make a great wine…»
VI
VI 6th edition
8–9 November 1997 · Kurhaus
“Like graduating cum laude”
In the Kurhaus, 100 producers from ten countries, every one invited, and for the first time Australia and South Africa: every key wine at 80/100 or more, at least one above 90.
100producers
10countries
2,300visitors
International Winefestival Merano · Gourmet’s International
Culinaria, the food festival, becomes an event of its own
The first Fine Wine Encounter in London, with Decanter
«Women in Wine», the first side event for women in wine
What happened in 1997+
The historic barge «Virgilio» (15 m, two masts) arrives from Magrè on a trailer and stands on Piazza Teatro, in front of the Teatro Puccini, from 30 October to 10 November: with a rite in Greek costume it recalls the procession of Dionysus. On 7 November at 18:00 the town is invited to the opening toast at the ship; at 20:30, in the theatre, Homer’s Hymn to Demeter in ancient Greek.
Culinaria, until now a food corner within the festival, becomes an event of its own, at the Terme congress centre; from 1998 it is in the Kurhaus.
Italy 57, Austria 18, France 11, Germany 9, and one each from Spain, Portugal, the United States, Australia and South Africa; the table plan also has Hungary.
Among them Antinori, Tenuta San Guido, Ornellaia, Bruno Giacosa, Ca’ del Bosco, Robert Weil, Kracher, F.X. Pichler, Niepoort, Ruinart, Jasper Hill and Neethlingshof.
Visitors register before entering; 7,000 programmes are mailed around the world and the official catalogue runs to 5,000 copies.
The «Gourmet’s Guide Südtirol» is published.
The «nowbodys»: still-unknown producers of great quality, forerunners of the Emergenti.
3,000 Spiegelau «Vino Grande» glasses bearing the festival’s logo.
The public votes for the best red, white, rosé and sweet wine.
V
V 5th edition
1996
9–10 November 1996 · Kurhaus
“…wine emotions”
For the first time the wines go through a selection, Gourmet’s International’s «Festival Selection»: Italy’s great estates beside leading names from Austria, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal and the United States. Those not chosen are invited to try again the next year.
120producers
2,400visitors
4wines per producer
What happened in 1996+
Organised by Gourmet’s International, for trade visitors choosing wines for their companies.
Italian producers from 13 regions, with Kracher, F.X. Pichler, Bründlmayer, Dönnhoff, Robert Weil, Dr. Loosen, Ruinart, Chapoutier, Remelluri and Niepoort.
In the Pavillon des Fleurs, a group of producers from the USA too, beside Germany and Piedmont.
A first «Culinaria» corner: olive oil, balsamic vinegar and cheese beside the wines — and Riedel glasses.
The glass is Riedel’s «Overture», on a 10,000-lire deposit; anyone who wants to keep it takes it home in a bag.
Payment in lire, marks, Swiss francs, schillings or by VISA. On sale: decanters, corkscrews and IWF ties; in the afternoon, a piano bar in the second-floor rotunda.
The catalogue in book format, 10,000 copies, designed by Markus Dorn.
At the «PR & IWF 1997» desk, word goes out that from 1997 entry is by registration only.
IV
IV 4th edition
1995
4–5 November 1995 · Kurhaus
Europe in the glass
The fourth edition’s motto looks to Europe; and the festival is already on the Internet, one of the first in South Tyrol.
104producers
7countries
39from abroad
Premio Godio: the wine soup
What happened in 1995+
Two days, 4–5 November; the poster speaks two languages: «Europa nel calice · Europa im Munde».
Italy 65, France 14, Austria 13, Germany 8, Switzerland 2, Hungary 1, Portugal 1 — and a collective South Tyrol stand.
Among them Biondi-Santi, Tenuta San Guido, Ornellaia, Antinori, Bruno Giacosa, Dönnhoff, Robert Weil, Kracher, F.X. Pichler, Niepoort, Chapoutier and Ruinart.
The Premio Godio honours the wine soup.
III
III 3rd edition
1994
5–6 November 1994 · Kurhaus
Premio Godio
The Premio Godio is born, in memory of chef Giancarlo Godio: each year it honours one South Tyrolean dish, the first being the Speckknödel. And Gourmet’s Service is restructured into Gourmet’s International, the company behind the festival.
The first Premio Godio, to Herbert Hintner
What happened in 1994+
The first edition over two days, 5–6 November.
II
II 2nd edition
1993
6 November 1993 · Kurhaus
Into the Kurhaus
A year on, the festival moves into the Kurhaus, its home ever since. The Südtiroler Gourmet Club takes the form of a company, Gourmet’s Service, which organises the first festival with an international name.
Internationales Weinfestival Meran · Festival Internazionale del Vino Merano
What happened in 1993+
One day, Saturday 6 November.
The glass emblem appears on the poster for the first time.
I
I 1st edition
1992
14 November 1992 · Hotel Palace
The first Wein-Festival
Born of the passion of three wine friends, the Südtiroler Gourmet Club celebrates its founding at the Hotel Palace: some fifty producers, about a thousand wine lovers.
One glass per guest: the founders’ idea
What happened in 1992+
Saturday 14 November 1992, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the Hotel Palace — so the invitation.
A date outside the tourist season, chosen for local wine lovers.
One glass per guest, with a spittoon and a water carafe.
The project took shape in August 1992 at the Maiser Rathausstube, Mario Coin’s historic Merano restaurant; he has tasted for the festival since 1993.
✦
Where it all began
The Südtiroler Gourmet Club invited guests to a Wein-Festival to mark its founding. 14 · XI · 1992 · Hotel Palace
The roots · 1988 From 1988, at least ten guided tastings of great wines a year, Sassicaia, Castello di Ama, Bordeaux, in restaurants.
