This is a gorgeous wine and one of my favorite whites of the year. The Cantina Terlano 2019 Alto Adige Terlano Pinot Bianco Riserva Vorberg is softly textured and rich. Its aromas are well integrated and balanced, starting off with pear and crisp apple and continuing to sage, saffron and a spicy hint of white licorice. However, the main protagonist is the mineral definition that frames this lovely white. Production is 55,000 bottles.

If I were stranded on a deserted island with just one bottle of wine of my choosing, it very well might be Cantina Terlano's Vorberg. The 2018 Alto Adige Terlano Pinot Bianco Riserva Vorberg is a case study in creaminess and texture, although the bouquet holds back just a tad, with a bit of stone fruit. That subtle shyness is a known characteristic of the grape. The wine is as steady and clear-minded as one of those high-wire daredevils, navigating a tightrope between two Dolomite mountain peaks. This expression is salty and firm and with so much energy, and yet it is also relaxed with a touch of softness to the finish. Thankfully, an ample 55,000 bottles were made.

This wine is liquid magic and is always a highlight in my annual tasting from Alto Adige. The Cantina Terlano 2017 Alto Adige Terlano Pinot Bianco Riserva Vorberg is one of the most impressive expressions of the grape to emerge from this mountainous region in the far north of Italy. The 2017 vintage delivers enormous sharpness and attention to detail. It showcases pear, Golden Delicious apple, crushed limestone or chalk and spicy hints of Persian saffron. These delicate and elegant aromas are followed by a structured and concentrated mouthfeel with beautiful texture and length. The wine is fermented in oak barrel, thus adding to the palate richness, and it completes malolactic fermentation in full. It then ages on the lees for 12 months in traditional oak barrel. Production is 55,000 bottles.

I admit that after I tasted this wine for work, I brought the remnants of the bottle up to my Roman terrace (on one of the first warm days of early spring) and polished off the rest of the bottle with friends. The 2016 Alto Adige Terlano Pinot Bianco Riserva Vorberg is just that kind of wine: It invites you to share its bounty and beauty with the people you most respect and admire. I just love this wine, and this is one of the best vintages I have tasted. Very few Italian dry white wines have scored this high, but this is a sure celebrity. This Riserva offers excellent Pinot Bianco concentration with generous layers of stone fruit, pear and poached apple. The finish is long and smooth. Even if you leave the bottle open for a long time, it evolves, but never oxidizes. The wine undergoes both fermentations in oak and then ages on the lees in oak barrel for 12 months. Some 55,000 bottles were created. Compared to the other top-shelf wines from Cantina Terlano, this is the best value of all.

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.