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2010 Alto Adige Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon “Iugum”
Peter Dipoli
When drinking Peter Dipoli’s wines, it is not unusual to forget the grape variety in question and instead revel in the awe-inspiring site that gave birth to these creations. Hundreds of meters above the valley floor in the Dolomites of Alto Adige, these vineyards offer all the right conditions for the making of a grande vino: elevation, slope, exposure, and soils of clay and limestone that yield low quantities of characterful, concentrated fruit. In Peter’s cellar, vinification is a means of bringing out the most of the terroir in order to capture the beauty of the site in bottle. Natural yeasts transform grapes to wine, then both white and red see a healthy dose of wood for a lengthy aging period. The intense, structured nectar can easily digest it. The oak barriques help soften the grippy mountain tannins of the profound, dark-fruited Iugum, giving an elegant texture to envelop the powerful core within. Dipoli’s creations represent unique interpretations of both grape and terroir, and offer a compelling taste of the Dolomites young and old.
—Anthony Lynch
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2010 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon |
Appellation: | Alto Adige |
Country: | Italy |
Region: | Alto Adige |
Producer: | Peter Dipoli |
Winemaker: | Peter Dipoli |
Vineyard: | Planted in 1992 |
Soil: | Clay, Limestone |
Aging: | Wine ages in bottle until 4 years after harvest |
Farming: | Sustainable |
Alcohol: | 14.5% |
More from this Producer or Region

2017 Alto Adige Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon “Iugum”
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Notes of Cassis, black cherries, and espresso draw you into the glass and keep you coming back to decipher what makes this cuvée and terroir so special.

2019 Alto Adige Sauvignon “Voglar”
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June Club Gourmand ~ The uncommon location and treatment capture a different face of this very familiar variety, deep and mouth-filling yet carrying a bracing jolt of limey acidity.

2020 Alto Adige Pinot Nero “Filari di Mazzon”
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July Club Chevalier ~ Always one of the dreamiest versions of the variety we import—ethereal and bright, with notes of orange peel and pink peppercorn.

2022 Südtirol Eisacktaler Riesling
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Crisp and lean with mouthwatering minerality, Nössing’s Riesling is one of great finesse and precision.

2023 Südtirol Eisacktaler Grüner Veltliner
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A vibrant, crisp, taut, white grown at over 600 meters in granite soil in the very northern part of Italy.

2023 Südtirol Eisacktaler Sylvaner
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This Sylvaner, from high in the Dolomites, is a finely channeled mountain breeze, an exercise in textural delicacy that will leave your palate tingling with the sensation of crispy minerals.

2020 Lagrein Riserva “Di Ora in Ora”
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This cuvée is dark-fruited velvet in a bottle.

2019 Alto Adige Merlot-Cabernet Franc
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Merlot and Cabernet Franc born from such high altitudes display classic cedar, graphite, and black cherry notes, but with smooth, velvety tannins that bely the bottle’s youthful age.

2016 Alto Adige Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon “Iugum”
Italy | Alto Adige
Notes of Cassis, black cherries, and espresso draw you into the glass and keep you coming back to decipher what makes this cuvée and terroir so special.

2023 Vigneti delle Dolomiti Schiava
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An ethereal red with a little spice.

About The Producer
Peter Dipoli
About The Region
Alto Adige
In the heart of the Dolomites, Alto Adige is Italy’s northernmost wine region. Having changed hands multiples times in its history between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire (it shares a border with Austria), it boasts strong Germanic influence on its culture, language, cuisine, as well as its wines.
The mountainous geography is the principal determinant of local winemaking styles, with the high-altitude vineyards and cool Alpine climate favoring primarily crisp, racy, aromatic whites from varieties like Kerner, Sauvignon, Müller Thurgau, and Grüner Veltliner. A Mediterranean influence on climate is channeled north up the valley until Bolzano, permitting the cultivation of certain reds as well, among which Schiava, Lagrein, Pinot Nero, and Merlot fare best.
Small growers who once sold fruit to the area’s multiple co-ops are now increasingly bottling their own wines. The arrival of many quality-oriented artisans on the scene caught our eye years ago, and we now count three estates from Südtirol, as it is also known, in our portfolio. These high-acid mountain wines make for a beautifully invigorating aperitivo with thinly sliced speck, a local specialty.
More from Alto Adige or Italy
2020 Alto Adige Pinot Nero “Filari di Mazzon”
Ferruccio Carlotto Italy | Alto Adige
2023 Vigneti delle Dolomiti Schiava
Ferruccio Carlotto Italy | Alto Adige
2019 Alto Adige Merlot-Cabernet Franc
Peter Dipoli Italy | Alto Adige
2016 Alto Adige Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon “Iugum”
Peter Dipoli Italy | Alto Adige
2023 Südtirol Eisacktaler Kerner
Manni Nössing Italy | Alto Adige
2017 Alto Adige Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon “Iugum”
Peter Dipoli Italy | Alto Adige
2020 Marche Rosso “Bastian Contrario”
La Marca di San Michele Italy | Le Marche
2023 Südtirol Eisacktaler Sylvaner
Manni Nössing Italy | Alto Adige
2019 Alto Adige Sauvignon “Voglar”
Peter Dipoli Italy | Alto Adige
2022 Südtirol Eisacktaler Riesling
Manni Nössing Italy | Alto Adige
2023 Südtirol Eisacktaler Grüner Veltliner
Manni Nössing Italy | Alto Adige
2020 Lagrein Riserva “Di Ora in Ora”
Ferruccio Carlotto Italy | Alto Adige
2020 Alto Adige Pinot Nero “Filari di Mazzon”
Ferruccio Carlotto Italy | Alto Adige
2023 Vigneti delle Dolomiti Schiava
Ferruccio Carlotto Italy | Alto Adige
2019 Alto Adige Merlot-Cabernet Franc
Peter Dipoli Italy | Alto Adige
2016 Alto Adige Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon “Iugum”
Peter Dipoli Italy | Alto Adige
2023 Südtirol Eisacktaler Kerner
Manni Nössing Italy | Alto Adige
2017 Alto Adige Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon “Iugum”
Peter Dipoli Italy | Alto Adige
2020 Marche Rosso “Bastian Contrario”
La Marca di San Michele Italy | Le Marche
2023 Südtirol Eisacktaler Sylvaner
Manni Nössing Italy | Alto Adige
2019 Alto Adige Sauvignon “Voglar”
Peter Dipoli Italy | Alto Adige
2022 Südtirol Eisacktaler Riesling
Manni Nössing Italy | Alto Adige
2023 Südtirol Eisacktaler Grüner Veltliner
Manni Nössing Italy | Alto Adige
2020 Lagrein Riserva “Di Ora in Ora”
Ferruccio Carlotto Italy | Alto Adige
Kermit once said...

Kermit once said...
For the wines that I buy I insist that the winemaker leave them whole, intact. I go into the cellars now and select specific barrels or cuvées, and I request that they be bottled without stripping them with filters or other devices. This means that many of our wines will arrive with a smudge of sediment and will throw a more important deposit as time goes by, It also means the wine will taste better.