Alto-Adige

The northern part (viticulturally) of the Adige valley, this region is also known as the Südtirol and, having been part of Austria until after the first world war, German is more commonly spoken here than Italian, although French grapes dominate the vineyards. Unusually, the DOC system is incredibly simple with a single denominazione covering the whole vineyard area. Valdadige DOC can also be used and covers wines from here and Trentino and Schiava has its own DOC, Lago di Caldaro. The Alps protect the valley from cold northern winds and there is plentiful sunshine, mixed with marked diurnal temperature variation. Most vineyards are perched on the steep hillsides between 300-1000m and produce ripe grapes with notable acidity. The most planted variety is Schiava, which makes a pale and light red popular locally and in the Germanic countries. Behind this, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay are the most important varieties. With two thirds of production controlled by the co-operatives, the choice of what to grow is often dictated by them and by what is easily marketable, however recent developments have seen a new generation starting to estate bottle more wine and an increased appreciation of indigenous varieties. There are 7 sub-regions which are of little importance to the consumer, although each has its own speciality and Pinot Bianco from Terlano and Lagrein from Bolzano are notably good. This DOC is generally warmer than Burgundy and is also the source of some very fine and fairly priced Pinot Noir (Nero). The majority of production is consumed locally or domestically, but this is a high quality region serious wine lovers should pay more attention to.