The aromatic white that takes its name from Tramin (Termeno), the Alto Adige village considered the grape's homeland. Alto Adige produces it in a dry style with deep rose and litchi aromas, candied citrus peel, exotic spice and a glycerol-rich mid-palate balanced by enough alpine acidity to avoid blowsiness. Cantina Tramin's Nussbaumer, Elena Walch's Vigna Kastelaz (63 degree slope) and J. Hofstaetter's Kolbenhof are the leading single-vineyard cuvées. Grown on porphyry and limestone-clay slopes between 250 and 550 metres in the warmer southern half of the region.
An age-worthy white of Alto Adige, planted on limestone and porphyry slopes between 350 and 700 metres in Terlano, Andrian, Cornaiano and Appiano. Cantina Terlano's Vorberg Riserva and Rarità (released after 10-plus years on lees) demonstrate that Pinot Bianco from these soils can age 20 to 40 years; Andrian, Schreckbichl Cornell and Cantina Girlan's Flora round out the cellar tier. Profiles run apple, white peach, hazelnut and chalky minerality, with a tight high-altitude acidic spine.
The dark, native red of Bolzano, planted historically on the warm sandy alluvial fans of Gries on the western bank of the Talvera. Deep purple-opaque colour, blackberry and violet aromas, bitter-chocolate finish, firm grippy tannin and lively acidity. Cantina Bolzano's Taber Riserva and Muri-Gries Abtei Muri Riserva are the leading Lagreins; Loacker Gran Lareyn and Tiefenbrunner Linticlarus extend the range. Also bottled in a fresh rosato style (Lagrein Rosato or Kretzer).
The light, pale-ruby native red of Alto Adige, drunk young in the bilingual Stube alongside Speck and Schluetzkrapfen. Low tannin, vibrant strawberry-and-violet fruit, gentle acidity and 11-12 percent alcohol; the antithesis of an ageworthy Italian red and exactly the local food wine. Three DOC zones differentiate it: Santa Maddalena (steep slopes above Bolzano), Lago di Caldaro Classico (the lake-warm moraine) and Meranese di Collina (Marlengo porphyry). Cantina Bolzano, Cantina Kaltern, Castel Sallegg and Cantina Tramin all bottle Schiava as a cellar headline.
Alto Adige is a key Italian region for Pinot Noir, and the Mazon plateau in the commune of Egna is a long-established Pinot Noir site (65 hectares, two-thirds planted to Blauburgunder). Hofstaetter Barthenau Vigna S. Urbano and Riserva Mazon, Franz Haas Schweizer, Brunnenhof Mazzon, Cantina Girlan Trattmann Riserva, Manincor Mason di Mason and Alois Lageder Krafuss are the leading cuvées. Profiles favour bright red cherry, dried herb, forest floor and a savoury alpine acidity rather than New World fruit weight.
A modern Alto Adige flagship: high-altitude limestone-clay slopes in Appiano, Cornaiano, Magre and Penon give a tight, mineral, citrus-and-elderflower expression closer to upper Loire than Marlborough. Manincor's Lieben Aich (single biodynamic vineyard at 500 metres), Peter Dipoli's Voglar, Schreckbichl Lafoa, Cantina Terlano's Quarz Riserva, St. Michael-Eppan Sanct Valentin and Tiefenbrunner Rachtl are the leading cuvées.
Within Italy, Sylvaner is essentially a Valle Isarco / Eisacktal grape, planted on gravelly glacial soils between 550 and 800 metres around Bressanone, Vahrn, Klausen and Feldthurns. About 68 hectares are bottled by 21 producers; Koefererhof, Kuenhof Kaiton, Strasserhof, Pacherhof and Abbazia di Novacella set the regional standard. Profile is herb-and-green-apple with chalky-flinty minerality and a tightly-wound alpine acidity that ages 5 to 12 years in the best vintages.
A 1929 German crossing of Trollinger (Schiava) and Riesling, planted almost exclusively in Valle Isarco within Italy. The high, well-ventilated Eisacktal slopes at 600 to 900 metres ripen Kerner without losing acidity, giving a semi-aromatic white with peach, pear, sage and a Riesling-like steel finish. Eisacktaler Kellerei Aristos, Abbazia di Novacella, Strasserhof and Kuenhof are the leading cuvées.
Alto Adige is Italy's quality reference for Pinot Grigio, a clear step up from the Venetian volume-fan version. Mineral-driven, pear-and-almond profile with a steely acidic core, bottled by virtually every cooperative and private estate. Alois Lageder Porer (skin-contact), Cantina Terlano Klassisch, Cantina Tramin Unterebner, Elena Walch Castel Ringberg and St. Michael-Eppan Sanct Valentin lead the serious end. Often noted on Cork & Curve as the antithesis of the supermarket Italian Pinot Grigio cliche.