Would you guess at the winery name only that Kupelwieser Pinot Bianco 2019 is Italian wine?
Kupelwieser Pinot Bianco comes from Alto Adige, the most northernmost Italian wine region. Alto Adige has the most distinct identity in all of Italy, and in essence, is a country within a country.
Does the Kupelwieser sound German to you? If it does, there’s a good reason for that because Alto Adige is one of the oldest winegrowing areas in German-speaking Europe. For most of its history, Alto Adige was part of a German-speaking world and became a part of Italy after World War I. While today it’s an officially bilingual province of Italy, German is a principal language for speech and print. Wine labels tend to be written in German and often (not always) followed in Italian.
Kupelwieser Winery
Kupelwieser Winery was founded in 1878 by Fritz Kupelwieser when he planted the first vines on the property.
Today Kupelwieser focused on grape varietals that perform well in this cool region. The wines are characterized by liveliness and freshness.
Kupelwieser Pinot Bianco 2019
In the Bottle
The fruit for Kupelwieser Pinot Bianco 2019 comes from some of the best vineyard areas of the valley near the village of Cortina. The favorable location of the vineyards, ideal sunshine and excellent ventilation help Pinot Bianco achieve optimum ripeness.
After the grapes are brought to the winery, they are gently pressed and clarified through the natural settling of sediments. The alcoholic fermentation is carried out with pure yeast strains at controlled temperatures.
So how did it taste?
In the Glass
Kupelwieser Pinot Bianco 2019 impressed us with its perfumed character filled with scents of Lilly of the Valley, white peach, and limestone minerality.
It was as enticing on the palate with flavors of tangerine, apricot, peach, bee pollen, and a hint of pleasant bitterness of an orange peel.
We also noticed that wine needed around 10-15 minutes to release its aromas.
Finish
The overall impression from Kupelwieser Pinot Bianco 2019 was that it’s a flavourful, fresh, and bright wine capable of challenging Pinot Blancs of Alsace. We look forward to tasting it side-by-side with Alsace wines.
It left a lingering aftertaste of mandarines, sweet citrus, and lemon curd.
With a price tag under $20, it easily made our bargain wine recommendation list.