Abbazia di Novacella, Valle Isarco (Trentino – Alto Adige, Italy) Kerner 2018

 This wine has been on my personal wine list for more years that I can remember.  And why not?  It boasts spicy, floral aromas, and apple, pear and citrus flavors with citrusy acidity are surprisingly round and voluptuous.  It is serves quite well as an aperitif and pairs well with a creamy lemon pasta.  The Alto Adige, aka Sud-Tirol, region of northeastern Italy borders on Austria and Switzerland, so it is a bilingual area.  In the Valle Iscaro only white wine grapes are grown.  Kerner, according to Wine Grapes by Robinson et al, is a cross between probable native Alto Adige red grape Schiava Grosso and Riesling.  It was aptly named for Justinius Kerner, a physician who recommended “that his patients drink a glass of wine as the best natural medicine.”