2020 Tiefenbrunner Turmhof Chardonnay

The house of Tiefenbrunner hardly needs any introduction and the Turmhof series contains the high quality wines of Tiefenbrunner which are aged in wood in large barrels (1500 - 5000 liters) for about 7 months with regular batonnage. The barrel aging gives an extra dimension and elegance, but is almost indistinguishable because Tiefenbrunner attaches great importance to freshness and elegance (for that reason the wines also mature in very large barriques that are several years old). The Turmhof Chardonnay is a beautiful golden yellow in the glass. In the nose delicious scents of citrus fruit, slightly fat, completed with a hint of wood. The taste is quite powerful, beautifully pure, a wine that is round and juicy, mouth-filling. The grapes for the Castel Turmhof Chardonnay are harvested from vineyards that have a slightly lower yield than those for the regular Chardonnay. This results in wines with more concentration and depth. A small part, about 10%, ferments in new oak barrels. This gives the wine a touch of wood and a nice complexity.

The house Tiefenbrunner, with its historic half-timbered building, exudes the typical friendly South Tyrolean atmosphere. Outside on the terrace, visitors can enjoy a nice glass of wine. Many tourists passing through to the sunny south or on their way back stop here for a glass of wine. At Tiefenbrunner, that is definitely worth it. There is a wide range of interesting wines here, from fresh white to strong red. In all wines, the focus is on quality and on making a wine that is typical of the grape and the vineyard.

It is especially Christophe Tiefenbrunner, who started in 1991, who has modernized the vineyards and perfected winemaking. He has now cleared part of the pergolas from the vineyards. These beautiful grape arbors are very typical of the region, but they have the disadvantage that the grapes do not hang optimally in the sun. At the same time, he has increased the number of vines in the vineyard, also to improve the quality. In addition, revenues have decreased significantly. All measures have reduced total production from one million bottles to about 600,000 annually. The wines come from 20 hectares of our own vineyards and from grapes from several dozen hectares from other producers.

The production here consists of 70% white wines, the rest is red. Quite unusual for Alto Adige.
Most vintners focus on the production of fruity, light red wines, usually made for the German market. White, however, turns out to be a good choice for the future. The mountain slopes are very suitable for making white wines.

Wood aging is rarely used here. And if the wine is already in wood, it usually concerns very old large barrels, which give off virtually no wood taste. The harvest here often lasts until November. Many wine lovers are very charmed by the freshness and elegance of Tiefenbrunner's wines. The domain manages to give each wine its own character, bottled together with a breath of fresh mountain air.