Overview of the Alto Adige –Trentino Region and its Winemaking (Annette Schiller, March 2026)
Trentino-Alto Adige, as this region is referred to in English-language guide books to wine regions, is the northernmost wine region of Italy and a very special place where Italian and German traditions merge. Trentino-Alto Adige is a fascinating and unique region in the Alps. It boasts of an extraordinary variety of landscapes: snow-capped mountains in the Dolomites, valleys, streams, Lake Garda, and century-old breathtakingly beautiful towns true to their hybrid Germanic-Italian culture.
This region, situated south of the Alpine Brenner Pass, has been through a rollercoaster of invasions and was a continuous bone of contention due to its strategic importance. Even in Roman times, the Brenner Pass was strategically significant, on the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. In the Middle Ages, it served as the main connection between Central Europe and Italy for merchants, pilgrims, and armies. Finally, in the early 1600s Trentino (Süd-Tirol)- Alto Adige became part of the Habsburg Empire. After the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Habsburg Empire and the Central Powers after WW I, this region was annexed by Italy. Countless uprisings by the Germanic population followed and Italy tried to eliminate the German language and culture.
Modern-day Alto Adige (Süd-Tirol)-Trentino was created in 1948, after WW II. It was 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 (Bozen), commonly known as Alto Adige or Süd-Tirol in German. Official languages are German and Italian. The people have Italian citizenship.
Trentino-Alto Adige has a very long history of winemaking, about 3000 years. Trentino-Alto- Adige’s vineyards are true Alpin vineyards on elevations of 700 - 3,300 ft. In the thin mountain air of northern Alto Adige you can hear the echo of cowbells. The higher you climb, the cooler the climate becomes. At midday a breeze (ora) from Lake Garda usually comes up the valley, while at night the cool mountain air from the Alps slides down the mountains. The vines are usually grown in a pergola system - in summer this looks like a rooftop or staircase made of green leaves, with the grapes hanging from the wooden racks overhead.
The region's fertile valleys, which are often extraordinarily warm in summer, are responsible for a good 10 percent of total European apple production, so wine is only really grown where the vines are challenged - the more barren the soil, the better the quality of the grapes, they usually grow on gravel and rubble soils.
As said, because of the altitude of this region, even in the hot and sunny summers night temperatures are always cool and these diurnal temperature differences are excellent for the production of wines of great finesse. This makes the region famous for single variety crisp, beautiful white wines such as Pinot Bianco (Pinot Blanc), Chardonnay, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Kerner, Müller-Thurgau, and the indigenous grape Nosiola.
Geographically and geologically speaking, this region is extremely diverse. The southern foothills of the Alps, which naturally dominate here, are broken up by unique valleys. In between there are sunny vineyards that find the best conditions in a very special, almost island-like climate. In addition, there is a geological diversity in the soils, which is also unique. Glacial grinding, primeval seabed, clay soils and lime deposits, over 150 different types of rock have been identified so far. The composition of the soil can change within just a few hundred meters. Around Bozen we have volcanic porphyry, in the Isarco Valley and in Vinschgau the rock is characterized by quartz and slate, and towards the Dolomites lime dominates. In addition to the special climate, these different soils are also ideal for the diversity of the vines. There are about 20 different grape varieties grow in the vineyards of Alto Adige.
In terms of quantity, more red wine is produced than white. More than 50 percent of all vineyards are planted with the light Schiava (Vernatsch in German). Recently more and more vineyard area has been dedicated to Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir). Flagship red grape variety is Lagrein which 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. The undisputed queen of Teroldego is Elisabetta Foradori, who produces wines of high complexity through natural cultivation and aging in amphoras. Trentino is also home of the production of modern style red blends, similar to the Bolgheri region in Tuscany.
The quality in Alto Adige-Trentino is always right. 98% of the total cultivated area falls under DOC regulations - more than in any other wine region in Italy. This is certainly also due to the many excellently working cooperatives. There are only a few wine regions that are as characterized by cooperatives as Alto Adige-Trentino and where at the same time the overall quality of wines from the coops is as consistently high as the quality of private wineries. The reason for the many coops is the fact that still today, many households possess tiny parcels where grapes grow and it is impossible for them to produce quality wine.
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 the Veneto. We will use this opportunity to visit a winery where we taste the unique, delicious Amarone and will visit Verona the city much beloved by Shakespeare who set more than just one play in this northern Italian town.
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