2016 Cantina Terlan Pinot Bianco Terlano Vorberg Riserva

I admit that after I tasted this wine for work, I brought the remnants of the bottle up to my Roman terrace (on one of the first warm days of early spring) and polished off the rest of the bottle with friends. The 2016 Alto Adige Terlano Pinot Bianco Riserva Vorberg is just that kind of wine: It invites you to share its bounty and beauty with the people you most respect and admire. I just love this wine, and this is one of the best vintages I have tasted. Very few Italian dry white wines have scored this high, but this is a sure celebrity. This Riserva offers excellent Pinot Bianco concentration with generous layers of stone fruit, pear and poached apple. The finish is long and smooth. Even if you leave the bottle open for a long time, it evolves, but never oxidizes. The wine undergoes both fermentations in oak and then ages on the lees in oak barrel for 12 months. Some 55,000 bottles were created. Compared to the other top-shelf wines from Cantina Terlano, this is the best value of all.