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.
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).
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.
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.
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.