2022 Vorberg Pinot Bianco Riserva, Cantina Terlano
£190 per 6 bottle case in bond




There are some wines whose next vintage you eagerly await, hoping the sample will arrive sooner than the last time, but knowing it won’t, that there are a long 12 months to wait… This is one such wine. Cantina Terlano's Pinot Bianco Riserva, Vorberg. A wine that defies and redefines an entire style. A wine that tastes like it comes from the most meticulous of boutique wineries and in fact comes from a co-operative of nearly 200 hectares. A wine you know will age but which taunts you with its immediate drinkability (and hence provokes that long wait for the next year’s release.)

A sample of the newly released Pinot Bianco Riserva Vorberg, the 2022 vintage, arrived in the office yesterday morning. By the afternoon it was sufficiently settled and chilled for the team to taste. I should say that while we await this moment eagerly, we taste critically and we have skipped vintages of wines if they do not match our expectations. I can assure you that there are no such concerns with the 2022 Vorberg. It is another tremendous incarnation of this superb wine that continues to offer exceptional value at £190 per 6 bottle case in bond.

As Eric Guido wrote in March 2024: Year after year, the Terlaner I Primo Grande Cuvée, Sauvignon Blanc Quarz, Pinot Bianco Riserva Vorberg and Terlaner Riserva Cuvée Nova Domus are immediate standouts.

To recap, or to introduce to those unfamiliar, Cantina Terlano is a cooperative founded 40 years ago in north-eastern Alto Adige. Over 40 growers manage around 190 hectares of vines to produce a large range of highly individual wines. One of the estate’s specialities is Pinot Bianco (or Pinot Blanc if you prefer the French). There are very few complex Pinot Blanc in the world, and even fewer that come close to the Vorberg Riserva in terms of quality. Pinot Bianco is a genetic mutation of Pinot Noir commonly associated with Alsace in north-eastern France and also grown in Germany, where it is also known as Weissburgunder. However, the vines grown in Alsace are not capable of the same quality; large yields of less characterful berries producing relatively simple entry level wines. It is only really in Alto Adige that serious wines are made from this variety and Terlano’s Vorberg comfortably tops the list.

Vorberg means ‘in front of the mountain’ and the fruit comes from vines grown in sandy soils on steep south/southwest facing slopes at altitudes of 400-900 meters. The nutrient-poor soils control the natural vigour of the vines, while the aspect and altitude allow fruit to ripen fully and evenly. The result is a wine with both concentrated floral aromatics and notable minerality. Indeed, there is a complexity to this wine that is distinctly mineral. Antonio Galloni gave the 1955 Pinot Bianco Vorberg – yes, the 1955 – 100 points when tasted in 2013, commenting that it surprised a group of wine lovers who have had the world’s greatest bottles many times. His colleague, Ian d’Agata, scored the 1959 at 99 points, and the 1966 at 98 points. I think you can see that Terlano’s Vorberg has a real pedigree.

2022 was a warmer vintage and this Vorberg amply captures the richness of fruit. There is intensity and concentration but it is all allied to a floral lift on the nose and a balancing acidity and freshness with the mineral nature, which this wine invariably shows, asserting itself on a palate that remains tensile, focused, and long with mouthwatering, saline persistence

Utterly moreish, packed with character and quality. The sort of wine of which you should take a couple of cases; one to drink soon and the other to tuck away. Even then, as you finish that last bottle, I suspect you will wish you had bought just one case more.

2022 Vorberg Pinot Bianco Riserva, Cantina Terlano

£190 per 6 bottle case in bond
Slow to unfurl in the glass, the 2022 Vorberg displays pure, crystalline fruit on the nose. There is a lifted, floral touch and notes of orchard fruit and citrus. White peach aromas build and give a sense of focus and delineation. The palate opens with flowing fruit, building in lemony concentration through the mid-palate and into the finish. This is beautifully textured, with a seamless, silky quality. And then the mineral drive comes in at the close, bringing a sense of energy and tension that make this so appealing and compelling. Another brilliant rendition. Such tension and grip at the end. Drink 2024-2039 (ROM).

Please click to buy or let us know of your interest.

Take care,

Richard