Ratings for Wines and Producers: Alto Adige Wines in International Wine Guides

Big success for a small wine country: a total of 108 top grades have been awarded to no fewer than 67 Alto Adige wines in the latest editions of the most important international wine guides. The highest number of distinctions was awarded to the Terlaner Pinot Bianco Rarity 2009 as well as the Terlaner I Primo Grande Cuvée 2019, which Falstaff even considers to be the best Italian white wine altogether. Both wines are produced by the Terlano winery—the Alto Adige winery with the most distinctions with a total of 23 top grades for eight distinguished wines.

Around the turn of the year – some shortly before, others shortly after – the most important international wine guides are published: Decanter, Robert Parker – The Wine Advocate, the Vinum wine guide, the Falstaff wine guide, James Suckling, and Gault&Millau. The wine world of Alto Adige / Südtirol always awaits these guides with great anticipation. “The international wine guides tell us without sugarcoating how Alto Adige wines are faring in international competition,” says Andreas Kofler, President of the Alto Adige Wine Consortium. “These ratings are therefore an important benchmark for our international competitive edge.”

108 top grades for Alto Adige / Südtirol
So it comes as no surprise that Mr Kofler is very happy with how Alto Adige wines fared in the latest editions of the most renowned international wine guides. No fewer than 67 wines by 28 Alto Adige producers received top grades in at least one of the guides. In total, these wines have accumulated a stunning 108 top grades across the six wine guides mentioned above.
The highest number of top grades for Alto Adige wines were awarded by James Suckling this year: 34 domestic wines received 95 points or more, followed by 27 ratings of 95+ points by Falstaff, 20 such ratings by Decanter, 13 five-grape ratings by Gault&Millau, ten 95+ grades by Robert Parker, and four by Vinum.

Wines and grape varieties with the highest number of distinctions
Two wines, both by the Terlano winery, achieved five out of six possible top grades. They are the Terlaner Pinot Bianco Rarity 2009 and the Terlaner I Primo Grande Cuvée 2019. The latter was even declared the best Italian white wine by the 2022/23 edition of Falstaff and received 100 out of 100 possible points.
Apart from the Terlano top wines, four more Alto Adige wines received top grades from just as many wine guides: the Pinot Noir Riserva Vigna Ganger 2018 by the Girlan winery, the Alto Adige Nama Cuvée Bianco 2018 by the Nals Margreid winery, and the two Gewürztraminers Terminum Late Harvest 2020 and Epokale 2015, both hailing from the Tramin winery.

As one would expect from the ultimate Italian wine region, almost two thirds of the top-rated Alto Adige wines are whites (43), whereas 19 reds and five sweet wines received at least one top grade. The ranking concerning the number of top grades looks somewhat similar: 67 were awarded to whites, 29 to reds, and twelve to sweet wines. The case was different for the grape varieties, however, with Pinot Noir, a red variety, having the edge: eleven wines received at least one top grade. But a phalanx of whites is in hot pursuit of the Pinot Noir, namely the varieties Chardonnay (10 wines with distinctions), Pinot Blanc (9), and Sauvignon (7).
 
The top producers
With regard to the producers with the most distinctions, the Terlano winery has achieved the best grades in the international wine guides this year. Not only does it boast eight wines with at least one top grade each, it has also received a total of 23 top ratings in five of the six wine guides listed above. Coming in second and third are the Manincor wine estate with ten top grades for seven wines and the Nals Margreid winery with ten top grades, too, for six wines.
Nine top grades for three wines went to the Tramin winery, and the Tiefenbrunner Estate Winery – Turmhof winery received seven top grades for four wines. The St. Michael Eppan winery was awarded six top ratings for three wines; the Girlan winery, five for two wines; and the Gump Hof – Markus Prackwieser wine estate, four for three wines. And the Castel Juval Unterortl estate winery received three top grades for the same number of wines.

Special award
FALSTAFF 2022/23 – “Best Italian White Wine
(100 points):”2019 Terlano I Primo Grande – Alto Adige DOC - Terlano Winery