2020 Cantine di Ora Il Casato Pinot Grigio Valdadige Italy 750 ml

We couldn’t believe it—the daybright-hued 2020 Cantine di Ora Il Casato Pinot Grigio was everything our favorite NYC sommelier had promised it would be. The beauty of this wine, and then its value, stopped us in our tracks.

Ripe, juicy, and finely textured, it has the chiseled acidity of the Alps and the fleshy, floral ripeness that’s a signature of Italian sunshine. Fragrant lime and lemon brighten the palate with a hint of salinity, all filling out a luscious body.

One of Italy’s top wine authorities, Luca Maroni, lifted this wine to the heights of the vintage with 96 points, putting it in the company of top bottlings from Friuli, which don’t come cheap, running upwards of $70. Yet today’s effortless, nuanced Pinot Grigio comes in at much less.

Wine Access white-wine devotees cleared out our allocation of the 2019 in record time, and we don’t expect these cases—hailing from an excellent season and bearing matching critical praise—to last any longer. Strike early, before we’re out, and a case (or two) will be your best friend this season.

We first discovered this gem last year, thanks to a hot tip from one of our New York sommelier friends. He runs one of Manhattan’s best wine programs, curating a collection that’s beloved by both the Médoc-drinking uptown set and the natural wine downtown sophisticates. We’ll put his finely tuned palate up against any critic’s.

Recently, he went on his honeymoon in Italy, bouncing along the eastern coast on a Michelin-starred culinary tour that made us salivate with jealousy. But when he and his wife weren’t toasting their nuptials over a bottle of 1993 Taittinger, they were lying low at a sun-soaked poolside resort. That was where he discovered this gem of a white.

“The owner poured it with abandon,” our friend told us. “He knew a bottle on ice next to a lounge chair in the daytime heat was all he needed to keep guests happy—and spending their money on the premises.”

The grapes hail from deep, rich soils and warm microclimates that stretch between Roveré della Luna and Vallagarina, lending the wine a decidedly Alsatian complexion. While vinified in stainless steel, the attack suggests sweetness—even if the wine is analytically dry—providing just enough peach juiciness to perfectly complement a hunk of Bela Badia or pan-seared fish.

Recently reliving the memory of the trip while flipping through photos, our friend texted us a picture of the label (the pool glittering in the background). “Get this in the U.S., please? We want some for our anniversary.”

After a few weeks of negotiation, the cases landed stateside and Wine Access members cleared us out. We don’t expect our second allocation to last any longer.