Region: Trentino-Alto Adige

Zone:

Alto Adige/Südtiroler DOC

The rather larger zone, Alto Adige, follows the course of Adige river and that of Isarco, from Merano, in the northwest, down to Salorno, South of Bolzano, and up to Bressanone in the Northeast, with all 50 municipalities included. The Alto Adige zone covers low valleys and slopes up to 800 meters.

The DOC list is rather vast and includes many grape varieties, various grape blends, sparkling wine and both dry and sweet wines.

The names on the labels can be a bit challenging for novices, because of the rules on bilingual German/Italian names that be different for the same type of wine. For instance, the wines belonging to the zone Alto Adige DOC may also carry the Italian name dell’Alto Adige and the German name Südtirol/Südtiroler. All names, however, refer to Alto Adige DOC, which is the version we use here on the Italian Wine Guide.

What makes the linguistic challenge even more confusing is the fact that Alto Adige DOC has 7 subzones, each one known under an Italian name and under a German name. In these areas, wine producers having vineyards in several areas have a little more freedom, being allow to vinify grape varieties from different zones as the same wine.

The subzones of Alto Adige are called Alto Adige/Südtiroler Santa Maddalena DOC (St. Magdalener), Alto Adige/Südtiroler Colli di Bolzano DOC (Bozner Leiten), Alto Adige/Südtiroler Meranese di Collina DOC (Meraner Hügel/Merano), Alto Adige/Südtiroler Terlano DOC (Terlaner), Alto Adige/Südtiroler Valle Isarco DOC (Eisacktal or Eisacktaler), Alto Adige/Südtiroler Klausner Laitacher DOC and Alto Adige/Südtiroler Valle Venosta DOC (Vinschgau).

Fortunately, there are plans of solving the name challenge, for which we are grateful.

Alto Adige produces some of the best white wines in South Tyrol, but also some interesting red wines. A look at the grape varieties in this zone shows that the comparison with Alsace, France, is justified.

Alto Adige/Südtiroler is a large, so-called umbrella DOC, covering many types of wine. Alto Adige DOC therefore refers not only to white wines, but also to sparkling and dessert wines. The denomination includes wines from the previously independent DOC zones which merged into Alto Adige DOC and became subzones.

A more systematic approach to wines divides them into three categories:

• The name Alto Adige followed by the name of a grape variety means that the wine has a minimum 85% content of that grape. There are 20 different grape varieties, 3 of which are red.
• The white wine of Alto Adige Bianco DOC is made primarily from the white grapes Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco and Pinot Grigio.
• The name Alto Adige can be followed by the name of 7 different subzones and of any grape variety.

The predominant white grapes are, among other, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Bianco, Chardonnay, Traminer Aromatico and Sauvignon. The red grapes are represented by the local Sciava, Lagrein Scuro and Pinot Nero.

Read more about the wines from Alto Adige/Südtiroler DOC by clicking i the top menu in the right side.