Best selection of lagrein wines in us/ny

just returned from a quick trip to sudtirol and really quite liked a bunch of lagreins
i’ve never bought any here in the states so reaching out for some help
tia

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Eataly and Flatiron wines

solely according to their websites flatiron has 1 and eataly has 2

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I was going to recommend Astor but oddly they have none in stock right now. Usually they carry a few including the Terlan Porphyr which is a personal favorite.

yeah, much better than Astor.

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Totally random, you’ll find one vintage of a wine, then have to wait five years for another vintage to appear. Given the current difficulties in the wine market I expect you’ll see fewer and not more options. You can try and order directly from the producers as well, or a retailer in Italy.

I was at north Lake Garda and Bolzano last month and I got turned on to whites from Sudtirol. Also will be on look out for decent selection in NYC local market, if there is.

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It’s not the kind of variety that you’re going to find a “best selection” anywhere in the US, probably anywhere in the world outside of the far north of Italy.

If you can identify a bottle or two that interests you and find them in your area or order them online, that’s probably doing pretty well.

I like Lagrein as well. The one I used to drink some was the J. Hofstätter Lagrein Steinraffler, I really enjoyed that, but it’s been quite a few years. As I noted, you don’t encounter them very often. I just looked on WSPro and only one store in the USA carries it, though it is in NY (Eli’s List). At $60 I don’t know that it’s a strong value, though.

This probably isn’t what you’re looking for, but some bits of it are planted around California. Matthiasson makes one, for example. Also some fairly ungeeky wineries like Tobin James and Austin Hope – I doubt you’re finding any real varietal character there, but I haven’t had them.

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Nusserhof is a very good producer and is distributed in NY. I’ve gotten them at Astor in the past, and it looks like Saratoga Wine Exchange currently has some.

Chances are a few distributors have them. If you really want to track them down, contact a good retailer like Flatiron, Astor, or Crush or some of the BK shops if that’s more convenient. Ask if they would look what’s available on 750 and do a custom order for you. They’ll probably be more willing if you order a min of six bottles. The problem might be that distributors normally will charge the retailer extra for not ordering a full case of a particular wine but if you’re willing to pay the extra couple bucks for that service it will help.
Santa Maddalena’s ‘Taber’ is a nice one.

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plenty of good advice here
not exactly a saturated market, but i can find enough for a sample case
thanks all

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Amusing story:

They were kind enough to allow my wife, young son, and I visit them this summer. Five minutes into the tour with the daughter Gloria, my wife tripped and broke her pinky. Gloria was mortified. We never got to try the wine on site, but we took a nice bottle of the riserva to go.

Given the proximity to the mountains that are filled with hikers, bikers, and skiers, we were able to find a high quality orthopedic clinic on very short notice. She ended up needing surgery back in the US. I never thought healing such minor appendage would be such a long ordeal.

My approach would be, instead of trying to get it done in one shot–

instead say “over the next 2-3 years I will try 15 or so Lagreins”

  • make a list of producers
  • check wine-searcher 1/mo over Sunday morning coffee

If you’re still in Manhattan, half the shops you’ll be dealing with will deliver all over the island.

Otherwise, figure out which courier service (Doordash etc) is the cheapest, and compare against FedEx rates from K&D California, etc.