Wineries / Trentino-Alto Adige
Cantina Terlano is a growers' cooperative in Terlano, in South Tyrol. Twenty-four local growers founded it in 1893 to get free of the big landowners who controlled winemaking in the region, and it has 143 members today.
Terlano was known for white wine even when South Tyrol made mostly red, and whites are still 70 percent of what the cellar makes. The vineyards sit among outcrops of red porphyry, a volcanic rock, and the newest part of the winery is faced in the same stone, with vines planted on its roof.
What sets the cooperative apart is how long it keeps its wines. Sebastian Stocker, a former winemaker, began leaving wines on their lees far longer than usual. The rarity wines now spend a year in wood and then ten to thirty years in small steel tanks before bottling, and only 3,330 bottles are filled each year.
Not tasted yet
I haven't reviewed a wine from Cantina Terlano yet. They're on my Top 100 list, which is built from awards.