IT - NorthEast / Trentino-Alto-Adige

Answer 1

Alto-Adige

1. oUntil 1919: part of the Austro-Hungarian empire and focusing production on red wines from Vernatsch
2. oLate 1970s: birth of modern wine industry with conversion to more interesting varietals e.g. SB & Chardonnay

Answer 2

Continental with cold winters and warm summer in the valleys and the hills just of the valley floors

Alto-Adige

1. Most northern wine region bordering on Austrian Tyrol
2. Viticulture only possible in the valleys of Adige and Isarco rivers which meet to form a Y shaped zoneo Best vineyard sites are high up the hill, up to 600-800m
3. Mostly sand gravel & sediment deposited by the ice age; some great sites on clay & marl
4. Also, some very pebbly soils that annual refertilisation

Trentino

1. Vineyards mostly around the city of Trento north-east of Lake Garda;
2. Vineyards partly on fertile flood plain and partly on barren slopes made of moraine gravel

Answer 3

Reds

1. Schiava (Vernatsch)
2. • Dark-skinned grape
3. • Best are dry, light-bodied & easy-drinking - 50% of all plantings in the whole region
4. Lagrein
5. Local red grape
6. Deep colour, hi tannins, spicy w a slightly
7. bitter finish
8. Oak-aged to soften tannins and give smoky character
9. 6% of the plantings in Alto-Adige
10. Pinot Nero
11. Small amount produced in Alto-Adige essentially around the village of Egna
12. Teroldego
13. Parent to Lagrein grape
14. Deep coloured, full bodied, med-lo tannins wines, w cherry fruit with some worth of ageing
15. Almost exclusively in the Rotaliano plain in Trentino

Others: Merlot (light & fruity or silky, spicy)

Answer 4

Whites

1. Gewurztraminer / Traminer Aromatico
2. Originates from Alto Adige (1000AD)
3. Offspring to Pinot
4. Small bunches, not particularly productive & subject to spring frost
5. Produces off dry wines of hi alcohol, medium to low acidity and with aromas of lychees, rose & sweet spices
6. Here more restrained than in Alsace
7. Grown in both Trentino & Alto Adige
8. Chardonnay
9. Trentino’s spumante boom in the 60s led to the development of the plantings
10. Mostly light & fruity
11. Pinot Bianco / Weissburgunder
12. Important variety in Alto Adige for fine wines
13. Pinot Grigio
14. Increase in quality esp. in Alto-Adige. Neutral in Trentino
15. Silvaner
16. Most dense in the Isarco valley of Alto-Adige
17. Sauvignon blanc
18. Crisp & dry

Others: Riesling Renano, Moscato Giallo, Muller Thurgau

Answer 5

15,000ha for 1.2m hl production overall

WINEMAKING

1. Alto-Adige: Guyot is replacing the traditional Pergola system for lower yields and more intense fruit flavoursoTrentino: tendone vineyards for high productivity
2. Some use of barrique for ageing
3. One of the first regions to adopt modern winemaking techniques
4. Hail is a key hazard in the vineyard and will drive fluctuations in vintages.

Answer 6

Alto-Adige- 5,000ha

1. German-Italian bilingual region with strong German influence
2. Nearly 100% of the 350,000hl of wine produced is DOC wine (i.e. small quantity but high quality)
3. Dominated by quality oriented cooperatives, which control 2/3 of the production and initiated a surge in quality in the 1980s with payment of growers based on fruit quality (not quantity), promoting lower yields and also experimented with stainless steel and barriques.
4. Alto Adige’s success is built on Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc and Weissburgunder as well as some Cabernet-Merlot blends

Key producer: Luis Raifer’s Colternzio produces 1.2m btls, one of the leading cooperatives in Alto-Adige.

3 quality levels with top level sold under the brand Cornell.

Answer 7

Trentino – 10,000ha

100% Italian; overall not as quality conscious as Alto-Adige

2 key DOCs:

Trentino DOC (R/W): regional DOC w 17 varietals & hi yields authorised; Chardonnay & Pinot Grigio dominates the whites and Cabernet and Merlots the reds.

Teroldego Rotaliano DOC (R): Teroldego grown on small gravelly area in Campo Rotaliano

1. The majority of Chardonnay is also used for the production of local Champagne-like spumante, of which the region sells 5 million bottles/year.
2. Reds: first wine region to produce Bordeaux blends (Cab Sauv- Merlot).
3. Home to the The School of Oenology in San Michele all’Adige, one of the best research institutes in the world along with Geisenheim and Davis University.
4. 80% cooperatives, 18% private bottling firms, 2% independent growers
5. Key producer: La Vis cooperative with 1,350ha and 5.5m btls sold every year is a big producer supplying Waitrose in the UK

Answer 8

2000, 2001 & 2004 were top vintages for both reds & whites. 92 & 98 were the most recent worst esp. for reds.