Winemaker Notes
Try pairing with mild cheese and rich, spicy seafood.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Alto Adige’s everyday variety is given a serious treatment here; high-altitude vineyards; ageing in large barrels; beautiful texture and spice; expressive quince, saffron and white pepper; cellarworthy; great track record.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This wine is always high on my list of favorite picks from Alto Adige. Despite the challenging vintage, the 2014 Alto Adige Terlano Pinot Bianco Riserva Vorberg walks a delicate line between power and elegance. The bouquet offers subtle tones of white peach with Golden Delicious apple and crushed mineral. Pineapple and preserved lemon are also small but tangy parts of the overall ensemble. There is a very mild level of toastiness with roasted almond and honey. The wine offers tight and rich texture overall.
Approachable, aromatic and pleasantly plush on the palate, Pinot Blanc is a white grape variety most associated with the Alsace region of France. Although its heritage is Burgundian, today it is rarely found there and instead thrives throughout central Europe, namely Germany and Austria, where it is known as Weissburgunder and Alto Adige where it is called Pinot Bianco. Interestingly, Pinot Blanc was born out of a mutation of the pink-skinned Pinot Gris. Somm Secret—Chardonnay fans looking to try something new would benefit from giving Pinot Blanc a try.
A mountainous northern Italian region heavily influenced by German culture, Trentino-Alto Adige is actually made up of two separate but similar regions: Alto Adige and Trentino.
Trentino, the southern half, is primarily Italian-speaking and largely responsible for the production of non-native, international grapes. There is a significant quantity of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Merlot produced. But Trentino's native and most unique red variety, Teroldego, while still rare, is gaining popularity. It produces a deeply colored red wine rich in wild blackberry, herb, coffee and cocoa.
The rugged terrain of German-speaking Alto Adige (also referred to as Südtirol) focuses on small-scale viticulture, with great value placed on local varieties—though international varieties have been widely planted since the 1800s. Sheltered by the Alps from harsh northerly winds, many of the best vineyards are at extreme altitude but on steep slopes to increase sunlight exposure.
Dominant red varieties include the bold, herbaceous Lagrein and delicate, strawberry-kissed, Schiava, in addition to some Pinot Nero.
The primary white grapes are Pinot grigio, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay and Pinot blanc, as well as smaller plantings of Sauvignon blanc, Müller Thurgau. These tend to be bright and refreshing with crisp acidity and just the right amount of texture. Some of the highest quality Pinot grigio in Italy is made here.