WINES FROM ALTO ADIGE: SMALL TERRITORY BUT GREAT RECOGNITION FROM INTERNATIONAL WINE GUIDES

The excellence of South Tyrolean wines and the work of producers at the top of the international scene have also been confirmed for 2022. In fact, with the end of the year, the most important international wine guides made their appearance on the market - Decanter, Robert Parker – The Wine Advocate, Vinum, Falstaff, James Suckling and Gault&Millau. The release of wine guides is always a moment eagerly awaited by the world of South Tyrolean wine with great anticipation. "International guides let us understand immediately whether the wines of Alto Adige are able to keep up with the global competition", says Andreas Kofler, president of the Consorzio Vini Alto Adige . "The ratings are therefore an important benchmark for assessing our ability to compete internationally."
SOUTH TYROL AT THE TOP 108 TIMES
The excellent results obtained by the wines of Alto Adige in the latest editions of the most prestigious international guides fully satisfy Kofler. In fact, 67 wines from 28 South Tyrolean producers have achieved the highest score in at least one of the guides. Overall, in the six wine guides mentioned, these wines have managed to win the maximum score even 108 times. The greatest number of maximum scores to wines from Alto Adige this year was awarded by the James Suckling guide, which rated 34 Alto Adige wines with 95 or more points. Followed by 27 evaluations of 95 by Falstaff, 20 by Decanter, 13 five clusters by Gault&Millau, 10 evaluations by 95 by Robert Parker and 4 by Vinum.
THE MOST AWARDED WINES AND VINES
Two wines – both from the Cantina di Terlano – obtained five of the six maximum attributable scores. These are the Pinot Bianco Terlaner Rarity 2009 and the Terlaner Primo Grande Cuvée 2019 . The latter, according to the Falstaff 2022/23 guide, is even the best white wine in Italy and, with a score of 100 points, it obtained the highest possible score. Behind the two top wines from Terlano, four other wines from South Tyrol have obtained the maximum score in as many international wine guides: the Pinot Noir Riserva Vigna Ganger 2018 from the Girlan Winery, the Südtirol Weiß Cuvée NAMA 2018 from the Nals Margreid Winery and the two Gewürztraminer Spätlese Terminum 2020 and Epokale 2015, both from Cantina Tramin.
FOCUS WINES DIVIDED BY TYPE
As it was legitimate to expect from the Italian wine territory of the white wine par excellence, it is precisely the white wines, with 43 different labels, that represent almost two thirds of the wines of Alto Adige able to obtain the maximum score, while there were 19 red wines and 5 sweet wines to obtain at least one maximum evaluation. An analogous result also in the classification relating to the number of maximum scores: 67 of them went to whites, 29 to reds and 12 to sweet wines. On the other hand, the balance from the point of view of the vines is different: in this case the primacy belongs to a variety of red, Pinot Noir, whose wines have obtained at least a maximum score eleven times. Behind the Pinot Noir follows a group of whites made up of the Chardonnay (10 award-winning wines), Pinot Blanc (9) and Sauvignon (7) vines.
MANUFACTURER FOCUS
Taking a look at the most awarded producers, this year we note that the Cantina di Terlano obtained the highest scores in international wine guides, boasting not only eight wines with at least one maximum score, but also a total of 23 evaluations at the top in five of the six wine guides already mentioned. Followed by the Manincor Estate with 10 maximum scores obtained from seven wines and the Nals Margreid Cellar also with 10 maximum scores obtained from six wines.
The Tramin Winery achieved nine top ratings for three wines, while four wines from the Tiefenbrunner-Schlosskellerei Turmhof estate achieved the top score seven times. This is followed by the San Michele Appiano winery with six top ratings for three wines, the Girlan winery with five for two wines, the Gump Hof-Markus Prackwieser estate with four for three wines and the Unterortl Castel Juval estate with three top scores for as many wines.