From the Terlano subzone of Alto Adige, the 2015 Alto Adige Terlaner I Grand Cuvée is a top-shelf blend of 90% Pinot Bianco, 7% Chardonnay and 3% Sauvignon Blanc. This is an outstanding effort with beautiful aromatic intensity and an extremely long finish. Peach, pear, honey and toasted almond make the core and the heart of the wine. Delicate notes of smoke and campfire ash play supporting roles. The 14.5% alcohol is evident, but it is well woven into the thick texture of this full-bodied white. A precious 4,000 bottles were made. This wine drinks well now, but please be patient, because it will take on more volume and intensity as it continues its evolution. Under the cooperative model, Cantina Terlano can choose the best fruit from across its vast holdings, and that intense selection process enables them to make a wine of such profound pedigree and quality.

This wine lands high on my list of Italy's best white wines released this year. Benefitting from ten years of aging in sealed stainless steel pressure tanks, the 2005 Alto Adige Terlano Pinot Bianco Rarity is a precious and carefully crafted rendition. The bouquet is fine and etched with plenty of soft stone fruit, peach, pear and honey. Subtle background roles are played by spice, smoke and crushed mineral. This is an age-worthy Pinot Bianco from a sunny and warm vintage that offers texture and volume. It should age gracefully for many years ahead. Only 3,500 bottles exist. The wine is simply stunning.

Here's a slightly more accessible wine that gives you a clear view of the beauty and the vast reservoir of untapped potential when it comes to the Pinot Bianco in Alto Adige. The 2015 Alto Adige Terlano Pinot Bianco Riserva Vorberg is a generous and forthcoming expression that rewards the senses with ample stone fruit, preserved lemon, saffron and mineral tones of dusty chalk or crushed oystershell. This is a medium-weight wine with a mouthfeel that is successful due to the natural density and texture of the fruit in this sunny vintage. The oak elements serve only as framing. Some 70,000 bottles were made.

The 2016 Alto Adige Terlano Sauvignon Quarz is drop-dead gorgeous. It appeals to Sauvignon Blanc enthusiasts, but also to detractors of the grape who may be put off by the pungent varietal notes you get in other parts of the world. This Alto Adige expression does not have that same nervous energy or primal raciness that you get in New Zealand, for example. Instead, this is an almost docile expression in comparison with lasting fruit tones of ripe peach, preserved lemon and exotic saffron. Quarz is aged on the lees, partially in stainless steel and partially in oak barrel. The mid-weight mouthfeel is supple and round. Some 60,000 bottles were made. I am curious to track this wine's evolution over the next ten years, because I am confident that it will stand strong.

The 2015 Alto Adige Terlano Riserva Nova Domus is a blend of 60% Pinot Bianco, 30% Chardonnay and 10% Sauvignon Blanc. The wine undergoes slow fermentation in large oak barrel and partial malolactic fermentation (only for the Chardonnay and the Pinot Bianco). The wine is aged in barrel for 12 months, but the final blend is not made until three months before bottling. Some 25,000 bottles are released as a result. The bouquet is seamless and beautifully intense with a fresh medley of stone fruit, honey, mango, lemon mousse, saffron and lightly toasted almond. The full-bodied mouthfeel is creamy and rich.

This is a beautifully fragrant and delicate wine that embodies all the crispness and brightness of high-altitude winemaking. The 2016 Alto Adige Gewürztraminer Lunare starts off with slow and delicate footprints that grow in intensity and volume the longer you contemplate the wine. This is a medium-bodied white that borders on full-bodied due to the luscious nature of its unique aromatic composition. Floral aromas of wild rose and jasmine appear with sweet honey and passion fruit. Bottle production is 18,000 units strong.

The 2015 Alto Adige Lagrein Riserva Porphyr opens to an inky dark color with blackish hues at the rim. The wine's appearance is impenetrable and extra thick. The bouquet is built upon thick layers of dried blackberry, prune, dark plum and dried cherry. Lagrein does not offer tight tannins, yet this wine delivers firm structure nonetheless. Smoke, moist chewing tobacco and dried herb appear on the close. Grapes are harvested by hand, and the wine ends up in oak for 18 months, split between first, second and third year barrels. Some 24,000 bottles were made.

This wine seems to have changed names from Montigl to Monticol. The 2015 Alto Adige Pinot Noir Riserva Monticol is packed tight with tangy fruit aromas with cherry, blackberry, light spice, pressed violets and wet earth. This is a delicate but forthcoming expression of Pinot Noir that gives plenty of evidence of its varietal character, yet it never holds back in terms of power and persistence. The wine walks a fine line between grace and muscle, but it does so with expert precision. Some 35,000 bottles were made.