St. Pauls is a co-operative in the Alto Adige, the alpine pocket of northern Italy where Italian and German are both spoken and where white grapes ripen slowly on mountain slopes. This is Chardonnay from the 2022 vintage, farmed in the DOC that runs up the Adige valley toward Bolzano.
- Chardonnay, 100%, from Alto Adige DOC.
- 2022, a warm, generous vintage across the Alps.
- 13% ABV, dry, medium body.
- High acidity, low tannin.
- 750ml bottle.
How it is made
Alto Adige DOC is a small appellation, roughly 5,000 hectares, and it produces almost entirely white wine. The vineyards sit between 200 and 1,000 metres above sea level, where cool nights slow ripening and hold onto acidity. Chardonnay here is picked later than in warmer parts of Italy and fermented dry, without the heavy new oak that marks the grape in Burgundy or the New World.
How it tastes
Green apple and citrus on the front, then white peach and something stony, almost flinty, underneath. The acidity is high and stays high through the finish, which is what keeps the medium body from feeling soft. Mineral, clean, and not trying to be anything other than what it is.
Where it comes from
The Alto Adige is Italy's northernmost wine region, bordering Austria, and it has been under Habsburg and then Austrian rule for most of its history. The co-operative model took hold here in the early twentieth century, when small mountain growers pooled their fruit to survive. St. Pauls is one of those, based in the village of San Paolo outside Bolzano.
Good to know
Alto Adige grows more Chardonnay than any other white grape, and it has done so since the 1980s, when growers pulled out red varieties and replanted the valley floor. The DOC rules require the wine to be made entirely from the named grape, with no blending.
