Alto Adige

Northern section of the twin region of Trentino-Alto Adige in Italy, with Trentino being the southern section. It corresponds geographically with the province of Bolzano. The Rhaeto-Romanic tribes established the first vineyards here around 1000 BC, Alto Adige is thus one of the oldest German-speaking wine-growing regions. It is here that the Romans learned from the Celts to use wooden barrels for storing and transporting wine. German emperors travelling to Rome for their coronation learned to appreciate wine from Alto Adige on their travels. The vineyard area totals around 5.700 hectares, almost all of this is located at altitudes above 500 metres above sea level, on hilly slopes in the Adige valley between Merano and Salum, and in the Isarco valley between Bolzano and Bressanone, with smaller areas in the Valle Venosta region. Only the Lagrein region of Gries and the white wine region of Salurn are on the valley floor. The soils in the Adige valley consist mainly of alluvial soils and gravel, the soil on the slopes is mainly decomposed stone with a high limestone content. The region has a continental climate with warm summers and cold winters, with relatively large variations in temperature. Around 90% of wines produced in Alto Adige are DOC wines, two thirds red and one third white. Around 80% of the red wines are made from the indigenous Schiava (Vernatsch, Trollinger) grapes, found in many variants. The Lagrein variety is currently experiencing a renaissance. The leading white varieties are Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay, with a share of more than 50% in volume terms, other varieties planted include Müller-Thurgau, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Traminer (Gewürztranminer). The comprehensive DOC zone is called Alto Adige, with six geographic sub-zones. The DOC zones are:

* Bozner Leiten (Colli di Bolzano) = Sub-zone Alto Adige/Südiroler
* Eisacktaler (Valle Isarco) = Sub-zone Alto Adige/Südiroler
* Kalterersee (Lago di Caldaro)
* Meraner Hügel (Meranese di Collina) = Sub-zone Alto Adige/Südiroler
* St. Magdalener (Santa Maddalena) = Sub-zone Alto Adige/Südiroler
* Südtiroler (also Alto Adige)
* Terlaner (Terlano) = Sub-zone Alto Adige/Südiroler
* Vinschgau (Valle Venosta) = Sub-zone Alto Adige/Südtiroler