Terlaner Weißburgunder Alto Adige DOC 2013 Rarity

Cantina Terlan | South Tyrol
Kellerei Terlan | Silberleitenweg 7 | IT 39018 Terlan

01081513 · 0,75 l · 278,67 €/l · Price (DE) incl. VAT, excl. Shippingavailable immediately
Limitation of 3 articles per customer

There is a number worth remembering: 1967, the year in which former cellar master Sebastian Stocker put the first white wines into pressurised tanks, which were actually intended for sparkling wine. No market for South Tyrolean sparkling wine, but an idea: what happens when a white wine is not aged for months, but for years? – decades – on its fine lees for decades? Stocker wanted to know. His successors have refined the answer. Rudi Kofler, cellar master since 2002, has elevated it to a philosophy. Rarity is the result of this patience. Outstanding vintages are first matured for twelve to fifteen months in large wooden barrels – they are then transferred to small 2,Liters steel tanks, where they rest quietly on the fine lees: ten years, fifteen years, sometimes longer. Until Kofler decides that the time has come.

The 2013 vintage is 100% Pinot Blanc from the Vorberg, the winery's cru site, facing south-west, between 500 and 600 metres. Quartz-porphyry soils, sub-volcanic subsoil, no calcium carbonate: the terroir that writes the minerality into the wine long before the cellar master even begins. More than eleven years sur lie on the fine lees before this bottle was bottled.

Bright gold in the glass with green reflections – surprisingly young for an age that most white wines would have reached long ago. The nose is multi-layered and complex: ripe stone fruit, beeswax, a hint of roasted almonds, herbs and always the salinity of the porphyry soil underneath. Powerful and elegant on the palate – a tension between fullness and freshness that no young wine can produce in this way. The final is extraordinarily long, salty and mineral, with a lingering aftertaste that lasts for minutes. What time can do to a white wine: That is the real message of the Terlaner Rarity. SUPERIORE.DE

"Very young and full-bodied, it opens with immediate creaminess, breakfast biscuits, crème fraîche and soft fruit thanks to the ageing in stainless steel. The fruit flavours include plenty of peach and melon, but also tropical notes such as fresh mango. It is full-bodied, with a medium to full-bodied texture and great freshness. Give this bottle another five years to mature before popping the cork." Wine Advocate

"The grapes for the Pinot Bianco come mainly from the best vineyards in the foothills, up to 600 metres above sea level. The vines are 70 to 80 years old and give the wine depth, complexity and concentration. The aroma of lime and passion fruit is bright and leafy and leads to a steely, stony mouthful of savoury peach fruit with salty hints and soft, creamy edges. The long finish reveals pithy pink grapefruit and pink peppercorns as well as some spices. Youthful and very energetic, with fantastic precision and promising for the future." Decanter