Kurtatsch Pinot Grigio Alto Adige 2020

Nicholas customers continue to rave about the wines that we’ve offered up from the steep hillsides of the snow-capped Dolemite Mountains. I can’t tell you how many times people tell me how much they love Tiefenbrunner, Muri Gries, Elena Walch and the superstar producer we have today. But why have these wines become so popular? The answer is pretty simple.

While most Pinot Grigio is grown at low elevations for tonnage and then machine harvested – a precious few are given the kind of vineyard care you might expect out of fine white Burgundy. That’s the situation in this precious corner of Alto Adige – because there’s no other choice.

Elevations are much higher and the slopes can be intense. Machine farming at Kurtatsch is not possible. Instead, the low yielding vines are harvested by hand – row by row. Like all great cool-climate wines, the vineyards here benefit from large temperature swings from day to night, which allow for ideal acidity and fruit maturity.

Every year I’ve tasted these wines, there has been at least one 90+ point review attached to the wine. It’s clockwork. Somehow, even with the 2020s just hitting the market, this thing has already picked up a 91-point from James Suckling along with some lavish praise, writing that the wine is “full-bodied”, “racy”, “sleek” and “very refreshing.” That’s a lot more than he usually says!

Coming from 100% stainless steel, this wine hits with such lively fruit, packed with notes of white peach and citrus flavors with a creamy limoncello finish. It’s super bright with a wonderful chalky mineral streak that is unique to the Italian Dolomites. It’s going to be one of your next go-to wines, if it isn’t already from the last vintage.