MASTERPIECE Alto Adige: Cool as “Cool” Gets By Igor Ryjenkov, MW

Alto Adige is a cool spot, in all the senses of the word. Landlocked in the

north of Italy, the province sits atop of the country and nearly atop the

world, thanks to its proximity to and its share of the Alps. All this makes its

climate one of the coolest in the country. It is also a bit more of an outlier –

all parts of Italy are different from each other and the rest of the country,

but Alto Adige is a bit more different than all the rest.

The grapes are planted on the slopes and in the foothills where little

else can be cultivated. Viticulture was practiced here as early as 5C

Alto Adige is one of the smallest wine producing regions in Italy

it has only 5,700 ha planted with 20 different varieties, 5,000 grape

growing operations but 98% of the region’s wine are of DOC level.

Given the number of small-holders that would otherwise struggle

to make ends meet on their own, co-ops play a big role here and

are responsible for 70% of all wine production. The quality of the

co-ops’ output is very high, with many wines receiving awards and

glowing reviews. Because the labor and farmland are more

expensive here than in other parts of the country – mountains,

again – the wine prices are usually higher even for an entry level,

but the wine quality is also pretty high across the board.

The wine color split skews towards whites – 65% of the production.

The signature grapes are Pinot Grigio (12% of planted area),

Traminer Aromatico, aka Gewurztraminer (11%), Chardonnay

(10.6%), Sauvignon Blanc (8.2%), Muller-Thurgau, Kerner and

Riesling. The whites tend to have pure, crystalline expressions,

refreshing acidity, but with a nice weight and fully developed

aromatic profiles. For the most part, fruit character retention is at

the fore of the winemaking decisions, with only an occasional

barrel use for an ambitious Chardonnay.

Reds are based on local Lagrein (9%) and Vernatsch/Schiava (8%),

along with Pinot Noir (10%), Merlot and Cabs. Their styles – cool

climate, sometimes alpine reds. Pinot here is quite promising, if at

almost Burgundian prices. The Cabs and Merlot ripen well in the

valleys. Largein and Schiava grapes, usually unoaked, are

responsible for lighter, summer-time geared reds, that in the past

were hard to explain to consumers – not dear but not cheap either,

they tend to have good acidity, lighter body and uncomplicated

fruit, which was antithetic to the preferred styles of the day until

recently. However, now this is the very style that the markets are

shifting towards and everyone is trying to emulate. These wines are

really best understood not only in the context of where they are

from, but also of the regional cuisine.

Like the region itself, the food tradition here is a cocktail of Italian,

Germanic and Alpine influences – rich dairy from the cows

pastured on the Alpine meadows, cheeses, cured meats, rich,

cream-enforced dishes to warm and nourish you in the winter and

on the cool summer nights. Among the region’s specialties are

speck, apples, apricot dumplings, spätzle, alpine herbs, local grey

Alpine cattle and sheep. The local reds are tailor-made for this

spread, cutting through the richness of the food, and yet light and

refreshing enough to work well in the sun-drenched summer days.

Served chilled on the mid-summer afternoon puts these wine in

their element and the brightness these wines can add to the plate

of charcuterie is super refreshing.

Alto Adige is arguably lesser known abroad than the rest of Italy

and its main wine- making regions. Partly this is due to its smaller

production. Partly, it is probably because of a “step-brother”

syndrome until recently, with its one foot firmly in Germanic

tradition. Partly, because it was not one of the key sources of

diaspora during late 19th and early 20th centuries, certainly not of

Italian diaspora, so it did not have a ready market in the New

World. Also, it does not quite have an emblematic wine or grape to

anchor its storyline to, like Nebbiolo, Chianti or Amarone. But on

the flip side, all of that makes it a very cool, under-the-radar part of

Italy to discover and explore. Cool in all the senses of the word.

Its other name is not an English translation of its Italian one

but a reference to its heritage, location and history – Sud

Tyrol, German for “South Tyrol”. Already populated even

before Egypt’s pyramids were built, it was under Rhaetians’

and Romans’ influence between 400BC and 5thC AD, still

seen today in Ladin, the third official local language, spoken

in a couple of valleys. It became a part of Habsburg Empire

in 1363 and was annexed by Italy only in 1919, post WWI. So, it

had been Austrian for much longer (about 550 years) than it

has been Italian. Along with Ladin, Italian and German

coexist today as the other main official languages.

The Alps define the climate, the topography and the

agriculture of the region – it has a Mediterranean climate in

the valleys, but cool alpine climate in the foothills. It enjoys a

lot of sun hours and just enough precipitation. The arable

land is scarce and the best plots are given over to the most

prized crops – like apple trees on the valley floors that can be

mistaken for vines from a distance.

Article from Opimian Cellar 319- Wines of Piemonte, Sicily, Alto Adige, and Canada