Kaltern

Pinot Bianco 'Vial' 2020

92

I’ve also tasted the three vintages of this wine leading up to this release from 2019, and all were excellent. Kaltern is a co-op, but co-ops are hardly all of one piece, and this is an excellent one. Medium-bodied and full of flavor, this is nevertheless still subtle and extremely well integrated, and in these respects, this is a classic rendition of the category. The fact that this wine is so consistently good is surely explained in part by the fact that there’s an entry-level wine one click down from this one, without the proprietary name of “Vial,” so the winemaking team can reserve the best juice for this bottling. With that noted, however, the entry-level wine from the 2020 vintage was also very good when I tasted it several months ago, so try that when you can.

Kaltern

Pinot Bianco 'Vial' 2020

2G

Due Bicchieri - very good to excellent wines in their respective categories

Kaltern

Pinot Bianco 'Vial' 2019

93

The 2019 Alto Adige Pinot Bianco Vial reveals a luminous appearance and brilliant golden highlights. The bouquet opens quickly to reveal orchard fruit, quince and Golden Delicious apple. Beyond that lovey primary fruit, the wine also offers background tones of almond, turmeric spice and crushed limestone. Grapes are sourced from an east-facing site with loamy conglomerate soils with chalky gravel and porphyry sand. The is a lean-bodied wine, but there is enough power and natural heft to pair with shellfish or white meat. You get terrific value, and this 60,000-bottle release will hit the market in October 2020. I recommend this vintage if you're looking for a special and well-priced, crisp white from Northern Italy