Any great whites from Alto Adige?

[Dan_Kravitz]

Gee, I was thinking of mentioning Cantina Terlano, one of the very greatest white wine producers in the world. A few other board members got there first .

The basic Pinot Bianco is excellent. Vorbourg Pinot Bianco has become a staple. Is Alto Adige the only place in the world where Pinot Bianco / Blanc makes great wine? It definitely does here, AFAIK not anyplace else. I’ve never had their ‘rarity’ bottling, still trying to steel myself to the ~$200 price tag.

Dan Kravitz

[JohnP]

I’ve really enjoyed the few Kerner wines I’ve had. Does anyone know if any wineries in AA are making a Grand Cru style Kerner wine?

[Tvrtko_C]

Again, perhaps there are very few people people who really have any reason to go to that kind of length, but, when we talk about AA, what we’re talking about is a number of very different places with different climatic conditions, sometimes not even a matter of mere nuance, different altitude range, exposition etc. It’s a complicated place, doesn’t lend itself to easy generalisations. Ora isn’t Naturno isn’t Fie’ isn’t Caldaro isn’t the MeBo stretch isn’t the Bolzano basin etc.

[Tvrtko_C]

I’ve really enjoyed the few Kerner wines I’ve had. Does anyone know if any wineries in AA are making a Grand Cru style Kerner wine?

“Grand Cru style Kerner”… sounds like something E.E. Cummings might have written… sorry, I just couldn’t resist

On a more serious note, as mentioned previously in this thread: Manni Noessing, the top bottlings of StiftSkellerei Neustift (otherwise known as Abbazia di Novacella), possibly Koefererhof. As close as you’ll get to it, in my experience. Nobody else, at this point, does a better job.

[K_N_Haque]

Gee, I was thinking of mentioning Cantina Terlano, one of the very greatest white wine producers in the world. A few other board members got there first .

The basic Pinot Bianco is excellent. Vorbourg Pinot Bianco has become a staple. Is Alto Adige the only place in the world where Pinot Bianco / Blanc makes great wine? It definitely does here, AFAIK not anyplace else. I’ve never had their ‘rarity’ bottling, still trying to steel myself to the ~$200 price tag.

Dan Kravitz

Wachau and Pfalz.

[David_Baum]

Gee, I was thinking of mentioning Cantina Terlano, one of the very greatest white wine producers in the world. A few other board members got there first .

The basic Pinot Bianco is excellent. Vorbourg Pinot Bianco has become a staple. Is Alto Adige the only place in the world where Pinot Bianco / Blanc makes great wine? It definitely does here, AFAIK not anyplace else. I’ve never had their ‘rarity’ bottling, still trying to steel myself to the ~$200 price tag.

Dan Kravitz

They also produce Quarz -Sauv Blanc which is pretty darn special also

[Thomas_Keim]

…and Schiava/Vernatsch is still the most widely planted variety, although we still don’t see much of it here.

One of my favorite wines from this region is a young Schiava with a slight chill to it. Anything more refreshing in the world? It has the shelf life of milk, but just delicious young -

[Dan_Kravitz]

Gee, I was thinking of mentioning Cantina Terlano, one of the very greatest white wine producers in the world. A few other board members got there first .

The basic Pinot Bianco is excellent. Vorbourg Pinot Bianco has become a staple. Is Alto Adige the only place in the world where Pinot Bianco / Blanc makes great wine? It definitely does here, AFAIK not anyplace else. I’ve never had their ‘rarity’ bottling, still trying to steel myself to the ~$200 price tag.

Dan Kravitz

Wachau and Pfalz.

Thank you. Please name specific producers and wines.

Dan Kravitz

[Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w]

Gee, I was thinking of mentioning Cantina Terlano, one of the very greatest white wine producers in the world. A few other board members got there first .

The basic Pinot Bianco is excellent. Vorbourg Pinot Bianco has become a staple. Is Alto Adige the only place in the world where Pinot Bianco / Blanc makes great wine? It definitely does here, AFAIK not anyplace else. I’ve never had their ‘rarity’ bottling, still trying to steel myself to the ~$200 price tag.

Dan Kravitz

Wachau and Pfalz.

Thank you. Please name specific producers and wines.

Dan Kravitz

I think the professor is selling importer tips to the highest bidder.

[Oliver_McCrum]

…and Schiava/Vernatsch is still the most widely planted variety, although we still don’t see much of it here.

One of my favorite wines from this region is a young Schiava with a slight chill to it. Anything more refreshing in the world? It has the shelf life of milk, but just delicious young -

We sell a lot of Schiava, now that people are not insisting on inky color in red wine any more. I drink a ton of it.

[K_N_Haque]

Wachau and Pfalz.

Thank you. Please name specific producers and wines.

Dan Kravitz

I think the professor is selling importer tips to the highest bidder.

Ha! Yes, will reveal in exchange for wine! But seriously, I think my picks are pretty well-known and the producers imported, though maybe not the individual bottlings. Still, from the Wachau: Hirztberger Steinporz Smaragd, to a lesser extant, Rudi Pichler Kollmütz Smaragd. For Pfalz, I think the standard-bearers are the GGs from Rebholz, Im Sonnenschein and Mandelberg. I also know people who really like Wasenhaus’s Möhlin, but I have never tried it (Wasenhaus is Baden, not Pfalz).

[P_a_u_l_Christensen]

I’ve also enjoyed Kerner from the abbey I can’t remember/spell.

Abbazia di Novacella / Stiftkellerei Neustift? They do make some very impressive wines, although with my experience the wines can be a bit uneven. Some are stunning, some are meh, some can be a bit weird.

I haven’t had a lot of experience with wines from Alto Adige, but I have enjoyed a couple of bottles recently of the 2018 Abbazia di Novacella (Stiftskellerei Neustift) Grüner Veltliner Praepositus. Maybe not “great” but interesting and very good, particularly at ~US$21.

[Tvrtko_C]

…and Schiava/Vernatsch is still the most widely planted variety, although we still don’t see much of it here.

One of my favorite wines from this region is a young Schiava with a slight chill to it. Anything more refreshing in the world? It has the shelf life of milk, but just delicious young -

Indeed . On a side note, though, there are also a number of old-vine Schiava bottlings around that are by no means wines lacking intrigue or detail, and these, in my experience, tend to require something a bit closer to room temperature.

[John_Glas]

I love those who say no. Have you lived there 20 plus years and tried all the wines? Of course there are some great wines there it is just a matter of finding them.

[Henry_Kahn]

Gee, I was thinking of mentioning Cantina Terlano, one of the very greatest white wine producers in the world. A few other board members got there first > > .

The basic Pinot Bianco is excellent. Vorbourg Pinot Bianco has become a staple. Is Alto Adige the only place in the world where Pinot Bianco / Blanc makes great wine? It definitely does here, AFAIK not anyplace else. I’ve never had their ‘rarity’ bottling, still trying to steel myself to the ~$200 price tag.

Dan Kravitz

Rebholz makes amazing weissburgunder. Steven Bitterolf organized an amazing dinner a number of years ago in connection with one of the early Rieslingfeiers, and Hans-Georg (sp?) Rebholz shared a few of these gems at a various stages of their maturity.

I’ve had some pretty good ones form Rudi Pichler too. Also Seehof.

[Markus_S]

“Any great whites from Alto Adige?”

no

[John_Glas]

“Any great whites from Alto Adige?”

no

You have tried them all? Where are your tasting notes.

[DougS]

Is Alto Adige the only place in the world where Pinot Bianco / Blanc makes great wine? It definitely does here, AFAIK not anyplace else.

Rebholz makes amazing weissburgunder. Steven Bitterolf organized an amazing dinner a number of years ago in connection with one of the early Rieslingfeiers, and Hans-Georg (sp?) Rebholz shared a few of these gems at a various stages of their maturity.

I’ve had some pretty good ones form Rudi Pichler too. Also Seehof.

I agree with Germany and Austria. Hiedler Maximum can be impressive with age (15-20 years). My favorite is the GG from Messmer, but sadly I can’t get it in the US anymore. Rudi Pichler and Seehof (Morstein) do deserve honorable mention.

[Dale_Williams]

I had a Gouges Perriere NSG last night, delicious if not necessarily great, Pinot Gouges is Pinot Blanc correct?
(sorry for thread drift)
and yes Otto, thanks, I did mean Abbazia di Novacella.

[Otto_Forsberg]

I had a Gouges Perriere NSG last night, delicious if not necessarily great, Pinot Gouges is Pinot Blanc correct?
(sorry for thread drift)
and yes Otto, thanks, I did mean Abbazia di Novacella.

Basically yes, in short, it’s a Pinot Blanc.

But in a more verbose manner; while it is Pinot Blanc, it’s not the same clone as any of the other Pinot Blancs that are grown elsewhere. Pinot Blanc isn’t actually a distinct variety from Pinot Noir, just a Pinot Noir’s white mutation. There are several clones of Pinot Blanc, all which are distinct mutations of the Pinot variety, and Pinot Gouges is just one of them, propagated from vines found at a vineyard owned by Henri Gouges. Basically all white mutations of the Pinot variety are Pinot Blanc with different clonal names, so more specifically Pinot Gouges the variety is actually the Pinot Gouges clone of Pinot Blanc.

I’ve yet to taste Pinot Gouges, but it’s definitely on my bucket list.