Winemaker Notes
Intensive straw yellow with a delicate green shimmer. Ripe fruit aromas of apricot, mandarin and passion fruit mingle with elements of elderberry, gooseberry and mint. The fruitiness continues on the palate in combination with a fine acidity. The wine scores with a good structure and a minerally but at the same time aromatic finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This is Sauvignon Blanc’s cool older sibling who moved to the mountains and got really into rock climbing. Fresh white peach and lime zest lead the way, but it’s the underlying mineral tension that keeps you coming back. There’s this crystalline purity that feels like drinking straight from an alpine spring, but with enough flesh on its bones to keep things interesting. It’s the kind of wine that makes you crave seafood, or just another glass. The finish goes on forever, like a perfect summer sunset.
Editors' Choice -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
With a slightly restyled front label, the Cantina Terlano 2024 Alto Adige Terlano Sauvignon Winkl is very true to the grape with lots of zesty tropical fruit, citrus and the green essence found on young tomato leaves. I enthusiastically direct your attention here if you love this fragrant grape. The wine is lean and fresh on the finish.
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Vinous
The 2024 Sauvignon Winkl opens with a refined mix of minty herbs, green melon, lime zest and crushed stone. The palate is juicy in character with silken waves of citrus-inflected pit fruits and a cascade of spice, all supported by fresh acidity. It is long and full of youthful tension, leaving a sour twang that calls the taster back to the glass for more.
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Wine Spectator
A minerally style, with hints of smoke and gravel underscoring the crunchy pear, fresh tarragon, grapefruit zest and lentil notes. This is chiseled, with good drive and length, including a zesty feel on the white pepper–laced finish. Drink now through 2034.
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James Suckling
A smoky sauvignon blanc full of intense asparagus. Tingling on the palate with zesty acidity and a brief finish. A bit too New Zealand in style.
Located in the Dolomite Mountains in the foothills of the Alps, Terlano's distinctive location and extraordinary terroir are key to the development of their stunning, world-renowned wines. Situated in a sheltered hollow, Terlano benefits from an ideal south-facing exposure. Vineyard slopes ranging from 250m-900m ASL provide perfect conditions for the cultivation of grapes, especially Lagrein, a variety that is indigenous to the Alto Adige region. In the vineyard, red porphyry rocks with high mineral content retain the day's warmth, while the porous soil creates an environment with just enough moisture for the roots to extend deeper into this mineral-rich soil. In combination with cool evening temperatures, these factors create wines of incredible depth and potential for aging.
Founded in 1893, Cantina Terlano has grown into one of the leading wine growers' cooperatives in the Alto Adige region of northeastern Italy. With a current membership of 143 growers farming a total area of 165 hectares, Terlano ensures the highest standards of quality by compensating growers for the quality of their grapes not the quantity. The emphasis in the vineyard is on reducing yield in favor of producing more concentrated fruit.
Terlano produces 70 percent white wines and 30 percent red wines, all of them of DOC quality designation. Following a winery renovation in 2009, the cellars now include a total of 18,000m of storage space, which ensures that the wines can develop undisturbed. On the outside, the building has a natural exterior of red porphyry, the stone that gives the wines in the area their typical character. The roof of the winery is planted with vines so that the building blends in completely with the surrounding countryside.
Terlano wines are classified in four distinct quality lines: Tradition, Selection, Rarity and Primo. Terlano wines are famous for their incredible depth and complexity and their stellar reputation continues to make these wines highly sought after both at home and internationally.
Capable of a vast array of styles, Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, refreshing variety that equally reflects both terroir and varietal character. Though it can vary depending on where it is grown, a couple of commonalities always exist—namely, zesty acidity and intense aromatics. This variety is of French provenance. Somm Secret—Along with Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc is a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. That green bell pepper aroma that all three varieties share is no coincidence—it comes from a high concentration of pyrazines (herbaceous aromatic compounds) inherent to each member of the family.
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.