2017 Tiefenbrunner Pinot Grigio Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT 750 ml

Tiefenbrunner makes the sort of Pinot Grigio that turns heads. It’s the type of wine whose name is scrawled on the back of business cards and napkins as glasses are passed for a taste. A Michelin-star darling, Tiefenbrunner grabbed the attention of Michel Couvreux, the former beverage director at Le Bernardin, now head sommelier at Per Se. Couvreux keeps only one Italian Pinot Grigio on his list: this Tiefenbrunner from Alto Adige which he offers at $65. A Wine Access favorite, the previous three vintages have lit up the scoreboard (a total of 311 4-star and 105 5-star reviews). The 2017 release is a crisp and layered white bursting with stunning mountain-slope vineyard purity. It’s the easiest way to transport yourself to the beautiful wine route of Alto Adige-Südtirol, at the confluence of Italian, German and Austrian culture. Highly recommended by the case.  

The Pinot Grigio grapes plucked off Tiefenbrunner’s vines grow in the shadows of towering Dolomite foothills, and fan out down steep slopes from the ancient Turmhof Castle. Pinot Grigio has been cultivated on these lands for 300 years—well before the U.S. had a constitution. But we’re lucky to be enjoying the wines produced today, because at no other time in history are these whites as clean, fresh, vibrant, and complex. 

Fermented and aged in stainless steel, Tiefenbrunner is invigorated with lively fruit aromas and flavors, snappy acid and chiseled minerality. You’d expect nothing less from Herbert Tiefenbrunner and his son Christof, who are regarded as expert producers of Italian white wines, among the best of Alto Adige from one of the oldest estates in the region. Tiefenbrunner crafts wines meant to speak for themselves through an expression of terroir and quality that outlasts trends. Those who know Pinot Grigio absolutely know this Pinot Grigio. 2017 was a year of lower yields in Alto Adige. The result for Tiefenbrunner was even deeper complexity from concentrated berries—brilliant and balanced, and in short: a must-have for summer dinner parties.