The St. Michael-Eppan 2020 Alto Adige Chardonnay Sanct Valentin shows zesty fruit with chopped apple, quince and papaya. There is a spicy element as well with a combination of ginger and saffron. That fresh fruit cedes to flinty smoke and crushed stone. This wine shows beautifully in this warm and sunny vintage. It sees 11 months in oak and eight months in cement.

The 2010 Chardonnay Sanct-Valentin comes across as heavy and ponderous, with little of the refinement of the house’s best wines. This is not a style St. Michael does particularly well. I am not sure what the rationale is for making a wine like this given all of the strengths St. Michael has elsewhere. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2014. I found many delicious wines in this lineup from St. Michael Eppan. The house is best known for their top of the line Sanct-Valentin wines that emphasize textural softness. As good as those wines can be, the sweet spot at St. Michael lies just below, in the vineyard-designated range. Importers: Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808, The Sorting Table, Napa, CA; tel. (707) 603-1461, Classic Wine Imports, Norwood, MA, Siena Imports, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 285-9675