pinot grigio

GREAT ‘LITTLE’ PINOT GRIGIO FROM AN ELITE SOURCE

Any time one brings up Pinot Grigio, there is bound to be some eye-rolling. A lot of wine types consider the varietal the epitome of pedestrian wine. In truth, there are a lot of over-cropped, banal, commercial examples out there that contribute to the varietal’s poor reputation. But all Pinot Grigios are not created equal. There are a number of sensational, indeed world class renditions from a number of sources in Alto Adige, Collio, and the surrounding high country of northeastern Italy. People like Schiopetto, Cantina Terlano, Venica, and Vie de Romains, to name a few, have been doing sensational work for a long time.

If there is an issue, it’s that most of the best examples can reach into the high $20s or $30s price wise. As you slide down the price ladder, the quality starts to erode as well. That’s not too surprising, but we are constantly on the lookout for sources that can deliver quality like the bigger fish but don’t cost as much. It can be a frustrating journey, but it isn’t a pipe dream. There are some interesting examples our there if you are willing to look.

One we have dabbled with in the past, and that turned in an excellent performance in 2021, is Cantina Adriano. The Cantina Adriano Pinot Grigio 2021 performs a lot like one of the big boys, with a captivating nose of fresh grain, white stone fruits, and stony minerality and a surprisingly unctuous, palate coating mouthfeel. Thin and insipid? Not this one! In this particular case, it’s an example of the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Cantina Adriano is produced by Cantina Terlano, arguably one of the highest performers in the region.

It is a vineyard unto itself. The description in Wine Advocate is “Cantina Andriano (Kellerei Andrian) enjoys a unique position at the point where the Val d’Adige (or the main river valley of Alto Adige) opens toward the south. The area is protected from harsher weather from the north by the rocky Mendola Ridge. Apple orchards blanket the valley floor, and grapevines hug the hillsides at the higher elevations.” But the winemaking under the auspices of Terlano is a key ingredient, we suspect, in this wine’s performance.

The purity of the aromatics and the substance to palate are prime components of all things Terlano and, while this wine doesn’t have quite the power and drive of the Terlano version, it is a delicious example of Pinot Grigio that costs less and outperforms anything we have tasted in its price range. It is a super star in its price range ($16.98). Nice notes from the press as well.

From James Suckling, “This has so much youthful energy, Alpine freshness and lovely juiciness that all make it stand out in the pinot grigio crowd! Very good depth and a really focused, long finish complete the very satisfying picture. Drink now…92 points.

From Wine Advocate’s Monica Larner, “In a bottle with a bright yellow capsule, the 2021 Alto Adige Pinot Grigio is fragrant and fresh with pretty fruit, white peach and summer daisy. The wine is very pleasurable to drink and silky to the palate with tart citrusy notes. Production is an abundant 70,000 bottles, and you get great value…91 points.”

TERLANO: SUPERSTAR HIDDEN IN THE MOUNTAINS

Sports teams like the New York Yankees, L.A. Lakers, Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Montreal Canadians are all hallowed franchises that are revered for their long-term success. But part of the reverence is based on the reporting of their achievements via the media. If you win a championship in the forest and nobody hears about it… well you get the drift. There are long running, highly accomplished entities in the wine business as well. Producers like Lafite Rothschild in Bordeaux, Opus One in Napa Valley, and the like, are famous because they have histories of great work, but equally because people have been told they were good.

Today’s producer has been working on a very high level for a long time, but isn’t as appropriately famous because Alto Adige doesn’t get anywhere near the media attention that, say, Bordeaux and Napa Valley do. But in their little world in northeastern Italy, Cantina Terlano is a serious performer who consistently makes spectacular wines. We have been following Terlano for a long time. Admittedly we have a soft spot for the region and the precise, well defined, racy, riveting wines from the region from the likes of Terlano, Valle Isarco, Nals Margreid, and Elena Walch. These can be some of the most compelling whites in the world in exceptional vintages, and the fresh arrivals from 2017 offer a fantastic opportunity for us to talk about this ‘champion’ producer.

In the world of wine, the story of Cantina Terlano is definitely somewhat unique. Terlano was founded as a co-operative in 1893. It is made up of 143 growers that work approximately 170 hectares of vineyards. The winery’s homepage very modestly describes Terlano as one of the leading co-operatives in the Sud-Tyrol region. We’d take that several steps forward and suggest it is one of the most successful cooperative wineries in the world, to be favorably compared with Produttori del Barbaresco in Piedmont and Domäne Wachau in Austria. These folks are among the elite of their field.

We were wowed by their new arrivals from the 2017 vintage, a harvest with which we haven’t had a lot of experience yet. If these are any indication, 2017 was another banner year in the region and also one that will speak to a broader range of palates. The 2016s were quite special to be sure. But the intense acidity, normally a part of their makeup in this cooler, elevated growing region, might have been a tad too powerful for some consumers. The 2017s are just as impressive but also are dialed back just a touch which makes their vigorous fruit component more giving. In short, the 2016s were a great but powerful vintage, and the 2017s look to be at the same level of quality, but a bit more user-friendly. Good times.

We’ve picked out three offerings from what we like to refer to as one of the superstars of the ‘German’ part of Italy. These are riveting, impactful whites and outstanding representatives of not only this house, but the region as a whole. The winery makes a number of wines, some of which reach into the $50-60 range. But we feel this trio is so good that it will make our point quite handily, and way over-deliver for their respective prices. These are driving, ‘naked’ wines that express the pristine terroir from which they come. If the farming isn’t right, there are no cellar tricks you can to fix them. These folks have it down to a science in the vineyard and, while they have wines that offer the opportunity to spend more, there isn’t necessarily a reason to do so. These play at a high level.

The Terlano Terlaner Classico Alto Adige 2017 is a great place to start, and this blended white dates back to the beginning in 1893. This is a blend of 60% Pinot Bianco, 30% Chardonnay and 10% Sauvignon Blanc that sees 5-7 months on the lees, 80% in stainless steel and 20% in large, probably neutral oak. The edges are polished and honed with nothing sticking out, and it shows plenty of deceptive power to the palate. You’ve got a variety of subtle flavors from white stone fruits to passion fruit to roasted grain with highlights of white pepper, wild herbs and a streak of minerality. This lifts and brightens as it hits the palate, and delivers plenty of punch. A 92 from Advocate in 2016, the 2017 is playing at the same level (we had them two days apart) as an authoritative quaff or versatile food choice.

The Terlano Sauvignon Blanc Winkl Alto Adige 2017 is a favorite around here as well. A 100% Sauvignon Blanc that dates back to 1956 is made the same way as the Terlaner. It is gentle and supple on the palate but sits nicely atop well-integrated, ripe acidity. Again stone fruits with faint suggestions of honey play against ripe grapefruit, sage, and mineral tones. Monica Larner, Wine Advocate’s Italian specialist, calls it one of her absolute favorite Italian whites. We definitely get that. This has texture and suppleness, but finishes with a dash of mouth-watering zing.

The Terlano Pinot Grigio Alto Adige 2017 is no ordinary Pinot Grigio. While the genre in general gets bagged on because there are so many banal, uninspired versions out there, this one has the kind of size, fruit and ‘pop’ that will get your attention and possibly frighten those who are patrons of those typical commercial examples. This one is clean, insistent, and deceptively powerful for what it is. The flavors have elements of stone fruit, grain, white peach and passion fruit with a fleck of wild herb. This is a Pinot Grigio with substance and one heck of a value.

These riveting whites belong in everyone’s conscience as well as everyone’s cellar. Fans of the genre know these for what they are, one of the best of the genre and world-class whites by any measure. If you don’t know Terlano, it’s high time you did!

Sizzling Sudtirol Triple-Play

The more we find out about this Sud-Tirol producer, the more impressed we are. We are big fans of the whites from these pristine sites nestled near the Alps, which we lovingly refer to as the German part of Italy. Sparkling high valleys, clean air, unique ad varied soils, we dare say that when Nature cooperates, these are some of the most riveting whites anywhere. Margreid has been one of the standard bearers for the region since we first ran across his precise wines maybe three vintages back. The rest, as they say, is history, though this latest set of releases kind of border on ‘historic from the standpoint of excelling true to the region.

If you like big, buttery Chardonnays, these will not be your muse. But if you fancy driving fruit delivered atop vigorous, fresh acidity, clean, pure flavors and superb integration, your Schiff has com in. We were recently presented with this lineup from Margrein, featuring efforts from the 2016 vintage (which has been enormously exciting in this region) and we couldn’t help buy everything we were presented. This ‘triple play’ was quite a show!

The thing is that these perform nearly perfectly for what they are intended to be. It isn’t a genre that gets a lot of attention, nor are these the kind of wines that will play to the typical media palate. But the execution for our tastes is so impressive, we find talking them up an imperative even if it is for a small, select audience. How excited can we get about Kerner, Pinot Grigio and Schiava? If they taste like this, pretty darned excited! And the prices are very modest for wines this good.

Nals Margreid Kerner Sudtirol Alto Adige 2016– While this aromatic white grape, first created in Germany in 1929 as a hybrid between Schiava and Riesling, is something of an also-ran in its native country, on this side of the hills it hits remarkable heights. The exotic fruit component flashes tropical notes, candied citrus, dried peach and honey, yet is bone dry with a trace of salinity. The tension between the fruit and well-integrated acid keeps the flavors lifted and vigorous but there is plenty here to make an impression. Even though it is crisp and nervy, it is packed with flavor.

Nals Margreid Pinot Grigio Sudtirol Alto Adige 2016– One of the most unique and interesting examples of this varietal we can recall. There’s a persistent florality to the nose that grabs you immediately, followed by impressions of pear and apricot that avail themselves as the wine unfolds. Plenty of flesh to make an impression up front followed almost immediately by a fresh underpinning of acidity that drives the fruit through the back-palate. Yes we know that there is a lot of insipid Pinot Grigio on the market. The people who drink those probably wouldn’t like this one because it has waayyy too much character. This is an elite performance because it is loaded with character yet still plays on the racy side as it should.

Nals Margreid Galea Schiava Sudtirol Alto Adige 2016– Schiava anyone? Yes this fresh red is virtually unknown to most folks, mostly functioning as a cool, go-to red in this mountain country. But with a little more ripeness’ the possibilities expand greatly. Here we have the insistent spice of the varietal augmenting a somewhat riper and more tender version of red fruits that lean a little blue. Schiava from a cooler vintage can have a bit of an edge. But somehow, in Goldilocks speak, this one is ‘just right’. Roses, fresh outdoor spiciness, a touch of earth, bright flavors., from century-old vines, it is medium weight and dangerously quaffable. Serve with a slight chill.

HIGH VALLEY WHITES-PART ONE

Not a lot of 2016 whites have come across our paths yet, but it’s easy to be optimistic given what we have seen so far. More specifically, those versatile whites from northeastern Italy are most promising. One of the real go-tos around here over the last few years have been from Abbazia Di Novacella. They are both high quality and won’t break the bank. We have an admitted fondness for Kerner around here and the Abbazia Di Novacella Valle Isarco Kerner 2016 is a beauty. Tender and pliant in the mid-palate with just the right touch of acidity, the delicate florality, faintly pear and pineapple fruit and refined palate are hard to resist and this one is food friendly with anything from a pasta primavera to a lighter handed fish dish to Vietnamese spring rolls.

Pinot Grigio had sadly become almost a cliché, and that’s unfortunate because the Abbazia di Novacella Pinot Grigio 2016 is an excellent example of what this varietal can be. It has plenty of pear and apricot fruit, some richness and weight on the palate and the requisite brightness to the flavors. This Pinot Grigio can play to a more sophisticated audience yet has the quaffability factor to please the casual cocktail crowd.