Alto Adige

The northern part of the Italian dual region of Trentino-South Tyrol; the southern part is Trentino. The Italian name is Alto Adige. It corresponds geographically to the Autonomous Province of Bolzano (Italian: Bolzano). The Rhaeto-Romans planted the first vineyards here as early as 1,000 BC, making South Tyrol one of the oldest German-speaking wine-growing regions. Here the Romans learnt from the Celts how to use wooden wine barrels for storage and transport. Viticulture reached its peak in the Middle Ages.

The German emperors who travelled to Rome for their coronation became acquainted with and appreciated South Tyrolean wine on their journeys. As in many other wine-growing regions, phylloxera and mildew led to a decline from the end of the 19th century. South Tyrol's annexation to Italy after the First World War in 1919 meant that the northern sales markets were lost. After the loss of quality in the 1980s due to the marketing of mass-produced wines, the region has now regained access to top quality.

Vineyards

The vineyards cover 5,500 hectares of vines at an altitude of 500 to 1,000 metres above sea level. They extend on often terraced slopes and hills in the Adige Valley (Valdadige) between Merano (Meran) and Salorno (Salurn) and in the Isarco Valley between Bolzano (Bolzano) and Bressanone (Brixen), with small areas under cultivation in the Venosta Valley (Valle Venosta). The Lagrein area of Gries (San Quierino) and the white wine area of Salurn lie at the bottom of the valley.

The traditional vine training Pergola is still widespread here. In the Adige Valley, the soils consist of gravelly alluvial gravel, on the slopes of weathered scree with a high lime content. The climate is continental with warm summers and cold winters with relatively large temperature fluctuations. There are two DOC areas:

Lake Caldaro - Lago di Caldaro (also Caldaro)

The DOC area includes the municipalities around the eponymous Lake Caldaro, with some villages from the Trentino area also belonging to it.

Alto Adige (also South Tyrol) - Alto Adige (also dell'Alto Adige)

The DOC area covers the entire region of South Tyrol. There are also six sub-zones, which may be labelled in German and/or Italian:

• Bozner Leiten - Colli di Bolzano
• Valle Isarco - Valle Isarco
• Merano Hills - Meranese di Collina or Meranese
• St. Magdalener - Santa Maddalena
• Terlano - Terlano
• Venosta Valley - Valle Venosta

IGT areas

There are two IGT areas. Mitterberg is located in South Tyrol (Alto Adige); the cross-provincial vineyard Dolomites or Vigneti delle Dolomiti consists of vineyards in the provinces of Bolzano (Bozen) and Trento (Trient).

Producers

There are many small winegrowers who are organised in one of the many winegrowers' cooperatives with around two thirds of production. Well-known wineries include Ansitz Waldgries, Arunda, Baron Di Pauli, Baron Longo, Bergmannhof, Bessererhof, Brigl, Brunnenhof Mazzon, Buchner Landgut, Cantina Kaltern (Kaltern Winery), Carlotto, Castelfeder, Castel Sallegg, Dipoli Peter, Donà Hartmann, Ebnerhof, Egger-Ramer, Eichenstein, Eisacktaler Kellerei, Elena Walch - Castel Ringberg & Castelaz, Erbhof Unterganzner, Garlider, Glögglhof, Griesbauerhof, Gummerhof, Gump Hof, Haas Franz, Haderburg, Happacherhof, Kandlerhof, Kellerei an der Salurner Klause, Kellerei Andrian, Kellerei Bozen, Kellerei Girlan, Kellerei Kurtatsch, Kellerei Meran, Kellerei Terlan, Kellerei Tramin, K. Martini & Sohn, Kobler Armin, Köfelgut - Martin Pohl,

Kornell, Kössler, Lageder Alois, Larcherhof - Familie Spögler, Laimburg, Lehengut, Lieselehof, Loacker Schwarhof, H. Lun, Manincor, Maso Thaler, Messnerhof, Muri-Gries, Nals Margreid, Niedermayr Josef, Niedermayr Thomas Hof Gandberg, Niklaserhof, Obermoser - Thomas Rottensteiner, Pfannenstielhof, Pichler Thomas, Plonerhof, Pfitscher, Edmund Pomella, Popphof, Pranzegg - Martin Gojer, Reyter, Ritterhof, Romen, Rottensteiner Hans, Schloss Englar, Schmid-Oberrautner, Schreckbichl, Sektmanufaktur Winkler, Andi Sölva, Peter Sölva, Stachlburg, St. Michael-Eppan, Kellerei St. Pauls, Taddei Manuel, Tiefenbrunner, Tröpfltalhof, Unterhofer, Unterortl, Weger Josef, Widum Baumann, Zöhlhof - Josef Unterfrauner and Zollweghof - Franz Pfeifhofer. Many of them are members of Freie Weinbauern Südtirol.

Bolzano: By User:Mattes - Own work, Public domain, Link
Cermes: By Benreis - Own work, CC BY 3.0, Link
Tramin: By Plentn - Own work, CC0, Link