Friday, February 27, 2026

Trentino - Alto Adige Wine Region in Northern Italy: Impressions from our Tour in 2025






From June 16 to July 3, 2025, Annette and I spent time in wine country Italy, by car. 

For an overview, go to:  Wine Country Italy - Lake Como, Tuscany, Alto Adige - in the Summer of 2025
 
This posting focuses on the last stop of the tour, a week in Trentino - Alto Adige in the northern part of Italy.  

First Stop: Villa Almana in Cernobbio at Lake Como, Lombardia

Second Stop: Bolgheri (Tuscany)

This was an organized group tour, led by wine journalist Giuseppe Lauria. 
 
Third Stop: Chianti Classico
 
We spent 4 days in the Chianti Classico Region.
 
Fourth Stop: (Brunello di) Montalcino and (Vino Nobile di) Montepulciano
 
We stayed 2 nights at Azienda Agricola Le Ragnaie, a leading producer of Brunello di Montalcino, 3 or so miles away from the village of Montalcino. 

Fifth Stop: Trentino - Alto Aldige

We drove from Montalcino in Tuscany to Trentino - Alto Aldige, where we stayed for a week, first at Hotel im Tiefenbrunn in Lana and then at Parkhotel Laurien, right in the center of Bozen.  

Parkhotel Laurien in Bozen
 





 
Bozen






Trentino - Alto Adige Wine Region: Impressions from 2025 













  





Trentino - Alto Adige by ombiasy WineTours (2026) 

Being the northernmost wine region of Italy, Trentino -Alto Adige is a very special place where Italian and German traditions merge. Trentino-Alto Adige is a fascinating and unique region in the Alpes. It boasts of an extraordinary variety of landscapes: snow-capped mountains in the Dolomites, fertile valleys, streams, Lake Garda, century-old breathtakingly beautiful towns true to their hybrid Germanic-Italian culture.  In the Middle Ages this region went through a rollercoaster of invasions and was a continuous bone of contention. Finally, in the early 16-hundreds Alto Adigo-Trentino became part of the Habsburg Empire. After WWI it came to Italy but it was only in 1946 that an official agreement was signed which gave this region extensive autonomy. Since the 1970s, most legislative and administrative powers have been transferred to the two self-governing provinces that make up the region: the province of Trento, commonly known as Trentino and the province of Bolzano, commonly known as Alto Adige or Süd-Tirol in German. Official languages are German and Italian. 

During this wine tour we travel through 3 main valleys carved out by the rivers Adige (Etsch) and Isarco (Eisack). These valleys form a Y since in Bozen, the capital of the Alto Adige region, the Isarco joins the Adige. From Bozen we follow the Adige river further south and spend a day in Verona the city much beloved by Shakespeare who set more than just one play in this northern Italian town. We will use this opportunity to also visit some wineries where we taste the unique, delicious Amarone. 

  • We will visit about 18 wineries in Alto Adige-Trentino.
  • We will do a day trip to Verona. Here we explore a part of Italy's Veneto wine region and learn how one of the unique red wines, the Amarone di Valpolicella is produced. 
  • We will get intimate insights into a selection of the area's best of the best wineries.
  • We will meet the owners and/or winemakers.
  • We will learn how to read the label on the wine bottles.
  • We will have excellent, typical South-Tyrolean and Italian meals at great restaurant, historical places, and at the wineries with the owner/winemaker.
  • We will experience ancient history and culture at every turn of our trip.
  • We will marvel at the incredible gorgeous countryside and mountain scenery.
  • We will get the inside track and will feel what the unique South-Tyrol "Gemütlichkeit" is all about.
Trentino-Alto Adige has a very long history of winemaking. There is evidence that wine has been produced here for 3000 years. Trentino-Alto-Adige’s vineyards are true Alpin vineyards on elevations of 700 - 3,300 ft mostly on mostly gravelly soils. Because of its altitude, even in the summer night temperatures are always cool which is excellent for the production of white wines with elegance and finesse. 
 
This makes the region famous for single variety crisp, beautiful white wines. In terms of quantity, more red wine is produced than white. More than 50 percent of all vineyards are planted with the light red variety Schiava (Vernatsch in German). More and more vineyard area has been dedicated to Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir). The red Lagrein vine actually comes originally from Trentino, but the finest Lagrein grows in Gries on flatter, lower-lying vineyards directly near Bozen in Alto Adige. The often almost opaque, dark purple Teroldego Rotaliano, also an indigenous grape variety of the region, on the other hand, comes from one of the few rock-lined valleys in the northern part of Trentino. Trentino is also home of the production of modern style red blends. 
 
As the climate gets warmer cool-climate winemaking has captured the interest of both sides of the wine business: the industry and the consumer. The focus shifts more and more to higher altitude, cooler climate regions such as Trentino-Alto Adige in search of elegant, moderate alcohol wines.
Join us for an unforgettable journey to experience this most fascinating region: the unique mix of German and Italian culture, language, food, marvelous wines, and the beauty of the snow-capped mountaintops and raw nature of the Dolomite peaks.
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Thursday, February 26, 2026

Sommelière of the Year - Feinschmecker 2026 (Deutschland/ Germany): Maria Vizsnayi, Restaurant Steins Traube, Mainz





 
Sommelière des Jahres: Maria Vizsnayi, Steins Traube, Mainz - Feinschmecker 2026 Deutschland/ Germany

Feinschmecker: Das stilvolle Lokal blickt auf anderthalb Jahrhunderte Gastlichkeit zurück, doch noch nie hat man hier so gut getrunken. Maria Vizsnyai verantwortet eine höchst engagierte Weinkarte mit über 900 Positionen und eindrucksvoller Jahrgangstiefe. Ihre besondere Liebe gilt dem Schaumwein, dessen Tiefe, Aromendichte und Spannung sie mit großer Leidenschaft als Speisenbegleiter erlebbar macht. Bei Starwinzer Anselme Selosse in der Champagne hilft sie regelmäßig bei der Ernte und beim Degorgieren. Auch für deutschen Riesling schlägt ihr Herz: Er macht die Hälfte der Karte aus, seine Vielschichtigkeit vermittelt sie in souveränen Pairings.

Eating at Steins Traube with Sommelière Maria Vizsnyai  

I had the please of eating at Steins Traube in the past 18 months two times, both at very special winemaker dinners, where Sommelière Maria Vizsnyai, along with Chef Philipp Stein, took the center stage. 

Sommelière Maria Vizsnyai had just returned from Düsseldorf from the Rolling Pin Convention, where the new list of Germany's top 100 chefs and top 50 sommeliers had been released. Bravo, Maria, she made it to #11 on the 2024 List of Top 50 German Sommeliers (Rolling Pin). "Kein Sprungbrett, ein Trampolin muss Maria Vizsnyai unter den Füßen gehabt haben, so schnell wie sie sich in die Top 50 der besten Sommeliers Deutschlands katapultiert hat."
 

Bollinger (Champagne) and Weil (Rheingau): Spectacular Winemaker Dinner at Steins Traube (1 Star Michelin) in Mainz, with Cyril Delarue (Bollinger Family), Wilhelm Weil, Sommelière Maria Vizsnyai and Chef Philipp Stein, Germany (October 2024) 
 
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See: Angélus (Saint-Émilion, France) and Battenfeld-Spanier (Rheinhessen, Germany): Spectacular Winemaker Dinner at Steins Traube (1 Star Michelin) in Mainz, with Hubert de Boüard de Laforest (Angélus), H.O. Spanier (Battenfeld-Spanier), Sommelière Maria Vizsnyai, Host Alina Stein and Chef Philipp Stein, Germany (October 2024)

      









 
 
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