The Elena Walch 2019 Alto Adige Pinot Nero Ludwig (with 10,000 bottles on the market) shows dark aromas of purple fruit and blackcurrant with tar, licorice and smoke. This expression of Blauburgunder, as the grape is identified in German on the back label, focuses on the more concentrated and rich side of the spectrum.

The Elena Walch 2018 Alto Adige Pinot Nero Ludwig is more closed, smoky and reductive than its peers, with notes of black slate and less primary fruit than others. However, the mouthfeel is very fresh and vibrant with lots of blue flower and a strong personality with muscle and brawn. I'm seeing uneven results with Pinot Nero from across the region in this vintage. You might try it with some liver paté. Some 10,000 bottles were made.

The Elena Walch 2017 Alto Adige Pinot Nero Ludwig is a delicate and beautifully complex wine. It offers a wide-reaching and ever-changing bouquet that continues to present new details for as long as you keep the wine in the glass. There are blue flowers, violets, hints of cigar ash, cedar, crushed stone and a touch of Mediterranean herbs such as rosemary, dried oregano or lavender. These are beautiful results presented over a silky, mid-weight mouthfeel. Fruit for the wine comes from two sites, with about two-thirds from the western flank of the Adige River at a very high 550 to 600 meters above sea level. This accounts for those fresh floral aromas. The other third comes from a slightly lower elevation with granite and porphyry deposits. This accounts for the wine's sharp and linear structure. Production is 10,000 bottles.

Elena Walch is among the most creative and prolific forces in contemporary Alto Adige winemaking. The 2015 Alto Adige Pinot Nero Ludwig shines bright in this warm and sunny vintage. This is an exuberant and expressive rendition of the grape, with accentuated aromas of wild rose, rose hip, dried rosemary and lavender. There is a touch of extra density or fruity ripeness here that is beautifully accented by the high-altitude, cool-climate conditions of mountain grape growing. I loved this new release of Ludwig. Some 10,000 bottles were made.

The 2010 Alto Adige Pinot Nero Ludwig shows a ripe and slightly darker expression of the grape. But, thanks to the cool climate diurnal shifts of the Dolomites, this Pinot Nero never ventures far from its Old World roots. Pretty notes of forest berry and spice underscore tar and smoky graphite. Candied cherry, clean flavor intensity and fresh acidity appear on the close.