Cembra is a co-operative in the Cembra Valley, a narrow, terraced cut of Trentino where vines climb slopes that have been worked by hand for centuries. Muller Thurgau, a crossing of Riesling and Madeleine Royale, was bred in 1882 by Hermann Müller, a Swiss grape grower who gave the grape his name. It found its best Italian home in these cool northern hills.
- Muller Thurgau, the sole grape.
- Trentino-Alto Adige, northern Italy.
- 2019 vintage, 12.5% ABV.
- Light body, high acidity, dry.
- 750ml bottle.
How it is made
Muller Thurgau ripens early, which suits a valley where the growing season is short and the nights stay cold. The grape keeps its acidity well past the point where most whites would turn flabby, and in Trentino it is picked with that freshness intact. Fermentation is cool and slow, the standard approach for aromatic whites in the Alps.
How it tastes
White peach and citrus lead, with a thread of alpine herbs running through the middle. The finish is stony and mineral, the kind of wet stone note that comes from granite and porphyry soils. Crisp acidity keeps it tight and lean rather than broad. Low tannin, as expected for a white.
Where it comes from
The Cembra Valley sits northeast of Trento, a steep, glacial cut where vineyards are planted on terraces built up over generations. It is one of the smaller and less-visited pockets of Trentino viticulture, and the altitude and diurnal shift here give the wines a sharper edge than the warmer valleys further south.
Good to know
Muller Thurgau was long dismissed as a workhorse grape, planted for volume in Germany and rarely taken seriously. The alpine valleys of northern Italy changed that, proving the variety could produce something precise and mineral when yields are kept low and the site is cold enough.
Contains alcohol.
