North-East - White
(including Trentino, Alto Adige & Friuli Venezia Giulia)
Cool-climate regions – and in the foothills of the Alps, this north-east corner of Italy is definitely that – can often see their medal count rise and fall significantly in SWA, depending on the vintages coming in. After a stunning 2019, it was back to normality this year.
Or maybe ‘normality-plus’ would be more accurate. Five places on the Gold List, plus 18 other medals and 14 Commendeds was still a really good performance for the whites and reds of this region. In fact, if the reds had stepped up, this could have been a seriously good year again. Alas, the rossos let down their bianco counterparts.
Another underperformer was Pinot Grigio. Our judges rather like the variety from this part of the world – in fact they gave it three Golds last year. But this year was more muted. Perhaps because our tasters weren’t always sure they liked some of the more ambitious winemaking.
But take a look at the range of wines on offer in the medals: Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia, Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot, Lagrein – lots of good, and interesting wines. This is always a region worth exploring.
From The Tasting Teams
‘People were trying to get something more out of Pinot Grigio than they used to – some ripeness, some skin contact – which didn’t really work. It’s tricky to select Pinot Grigio because good ones don’t come around very often.’ Tanguy Martin, Blandford Comptoir
‘The red wines have intensity and juiciness, with high tannins and acidity. Some interesting wines here.’ Dario Barbato, Individual Restaurants
‘Trentino can be bolder and more structured, which makes it more interesting and age-worthy, but it can struggle in the UK. The cleaner ones, as opposed to the more extracted nutty styles, are more suited to the UK palate.’ Mattia Mazzi, Cornerstone
‘We saw a lot of different wines in terms of region and terroir, and different styles too, from clean and straightforward to more intense, with skin contact. Overall, they showed great character. They’re good to have on a wine list because they’re food-friendly, but also nice to have as an aperitif.’ Chiara Sieni, MM Grocery
‘There’s a huge variety of indigenous grapes in this region, so there’s a massive span for everything from delicate and ethereal wines to much larger, high-alcohol, fruit-driven examples.’ Tim Handley, Royal Automobile Club
‘In the whites there were some really crisp, clean, vibrant flavours – and then you’d get a curveball where they’d oaked the wine, which sometimes worked and other times absolutely killed it.’ Tom Forrest, team leader
‘Pinot Grigio is a good grape when it’s made with quality winemaking and precision. Especially in Alto Adige, it can make great wines with character and typicity.’ Andre Luis Martins, team leader
‘The reds covered quite a range, but you could see the common thread of crunchy fruit throughout.’ Charlie Young, team leader