Girlan IGT Vigneti delle Dolomiti Blanco 2018

The 448 on this label is an altitude — metres above sea level — and the wine is Girlan's alpine white blend, bottled under the broad Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT.

Alto Adige, or Südtirol, is Italy's most northerly serious wine region, and its whites are shaped by height: the vineyards climb the valley sides and the cold nights hold on to acidity that would burn off further south. Cantina Girlan was founded in 1923 at Cornaiano, when 24 growers with 25 hectares between them pooled their fruit in a sixteenth-century farmstead; a century on it draws on around 200 winegrowing families farming some 220 hectares across the Oltradige and Bassa Atesina, with Gerhard Kofler as cellarmaster. The blend brings together three of the co-operative's five core varieties — Pinot Bianco, Chardonnay and Sauvignon — from morainic and porphyry soils. Fermentation is temperature-controlled and the wine then rests on its lees in stainless steel, with no wood involved.

Drink young, within two or three years. Serve at 10–12°C with grilled trout, prosciutto and melon, or an asparagus tart.

*Every effort is made to ensure the current vintage is accurate; however, variations can occur. If you are after a specific vintage, please contact us prior to ordering.