St. Michael-Eppan Winery unveils APPIUS 2022 with Chardonnay making up 57% of the blend

At the 35th Merano WineFestival on Friday, November 6, St. Michael-Eppan Winery introduced APPIUS 2022, the 13th release of its white cuvée made in South Tyrol from a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc.

The winery, based in Appiano-Eppan, said the new wine was built around Chardonnay, which makes up 57% of the blend. Pinot Blanc accounts for 22%, followed by Pinot Grigio at 11% and Sauvignon Blanc at 10%. According to the producer, the composition was chosen to reflect the character of the 2022 growing season, which it described as sunny and marked by a long dry period in summer.

That weather pattern, the winery said, affected grape ripening and led to an early harvest that began at the end of August. The producer said the conditions resulted in a wine with ripe fruit, body and balance, while preserving freshness and minerality associated with the area’s Alpine climate.

APPIUS is positioned by San Michele Appiano as a flagship bottling meant to interpret each vintage through a selection of top fruit from the estate’s white varieties. The project began with the 2010 vintage, which was first released in November 2014. Since then, the winery has issued one edition each year, treating the wine as both a vintage expression and a collector’s release.

In notes distributed with the launch, the winery described APPIUS 2022 as deep yellow in color with golden and green reflections. It said the wine opens with tropical fruit aromas such as pineapple and papaya, followed by gooseberry, sage, apple, vanilla and floral, mint and spice notes. On the palate, the winery pointed to pronounced spice, a broad texture, lively acidity and a long finish.

The producer linked that profile to vineyard sites on the slopes of the Mendel massif, where vines grow on calcareous, gravelly and morainic soils. It said those conditions help shape the wine’s structure and minerality. The winery also presented APPIUS 2022 as a bottle with aging potential and broad food-pairing use, suggesting dishes such as scampi risotto and, more unusually, desserts including crema catalana.

As with earlier editions, the winery paired the release with a new label design. It said the APPIUS name draws from the Roman roots of Appiano, and that the packaging is redesigned every year to mirror the identity of the vintage. For the 2022 bottle, the label was created by Frontier and was developed around the idea of harmony, with visual references to Pythagorean proportions and musical intervals.

The winery said APPIUS 2022 will be sold as a limited edition. San Michele Appiano has not released pricing in the material distributed on Friday, November 6.