1991 Terlaner Rarity Alto Adige Cantina Terlan

Crushed seashells with a briny undertone with lemon and apple as well as flint and gunpowder. Medium body. Minerally and vivid still. 25 years on the lees and bottled in 2016. Crazy wine.

What can I say? This is a stunning wine. You pay dearly for it, but the 1991 Alto Adige Pinot Bianco Rarity is precious indeed. This is the winery's historic blend of Pinot Bianco, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc that has been produced since the founding of the winery in 1893. This special selection of fruit results in a mere 3,340 bottles, and you'll recognize them by the heavy metal plate that serves as a front label. This wine has magically defied the years as it presents a succession of pure and beautiful aromas that underline the impressive quality of the primary fruit. Tertiary notes (and they are surprisingly subtle) come forward in terms of mineral, ash and crushed flint. The complexity soars to the stratosphere. It's impossible to assign a drinking window to a wine that seems to have not aged at all since 1991.