2024 Tolloy Pinot Grigio, Alto Adige

The 2024 Tolloy Pinot Grigio comes from the heart of Alto Adige, one of Italy’s most spectacular and high-performing white wine regions. Nestled in the northeastern corner of the country, Alto Adige sits at the crossroads of Mediterranean sunshine and Alpine cool, producing wines with remarkable precision, minerality and aromatic lift. Tolloy is crafted by Mezzacorona, a cooperative with more than a century of viticultural experience, sourcing fruit from carefully selected hillside vineyards along the Adige Valley. The vineyards lie between 200 and 500 metres above sea level, where warm days encourage ripeness and cool nights lock in crisp acidity. The soils are predominantly limestone and gravel, a combination that encourages excellent drainage and imparts a clean mineral backbone to the wines.

The 2024 vintage enjoyed a balanced growing season in Alto Adige, with warm, sunny days through summer and cool evenings leading up to harvest, allowing the grapes to achieve perfect flavour ripeness without losing their zesty energy. Grapes were handpicked and gently pressed to preserve the delicate aromas, then fermented in stainless steel at cool temperatures. This approach protects the pure fruit character and ensures a bright, refreshing style with no heavy oak influence.

In the glass, it shows a pale straw colour with silvery highlights, a hallmark of young, fresh Pinot Grigio. The nose is beautifully aromatic, bursting with white pear, crisp apple, lemon zest and hints of alpine flowers and crushed stones. There’s a subtle saline note too, reflecting the mountain terroir. The palate is clean and vibrant, medium-light in body with flavours of green pear, nectarine and citrus, supported by lively acidity that gives the wine a mouthwatering finish. It has a lovely textural finesse that balances freshness with a gentle creaminess on the mid-palate, making it both refreshing and satisfying.

This is a Pinot Grigio built for versatility at the table. Its bright fruit and crisp finish make it a natural match for seafood like grilled prawns, salt-and-pepper squid or seared scallops. It also pairs beautifully with prosciutto and melon, asparagus risotto, chicken piccata or light pasta with lemon and herbs. Thanks to its alpine freshness and purity, it’s equally at home as an aperitivo on a sunny afternoon. Best enjoyed within two to three years of vintage to capture its youthful vibrancy.