Also by Jeremy Young:The Italy Wine ProjectThe Humidor Project
The Italy Wine Project

Regions / Trentino-Alto Adige

DOCStill huntingEasy

Alto Adige (Südtirol) DOC

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IL PROGETTODOCALTO ADIGE (SÜDTIROL)AAIT32203584Denominazione di Origine Controllata

No strip issued. I'm still hunting a bottle.

Italy's most consistent white-wine region, an Alpine province where German is the first language and the cooperatives (Terlano, Tramin, Colterenzio, San Michele Appiano, Kaltern) make wines at a level few private estates match. Whites are precise and mineral: Pinot Bianco with green apple and chalk, Sauvignon with grapefruit and nettle, Gewürztraminer with lychee and rose from its home village of Tramin, Kerner and Sylvaner from the Isarco valley with racy acidity. Reds range from pale, cherry-scented Schiava (Santa Maddalena) to dark, inky Lagrein with blackberry, violet and bitter chocolate, plus increasingly good Pinot Nero. Almost every DOC label carries a grape name, so pick by variety.

Still hunting

I'm still looking for a bottle of this.

If you make Alto Adige (Südtirol), import it, or know who does, the form takes two minutes and I reply to every one.

Can you help me get one?

Bottles I'm chasing

  • Alois Lageder

    Alto Adige Pinot Bianco

    Biodynamic estate with wide US distribution; green apple, pear, chalk, a textbook Alpine Pinot Bianco.

    $18 to $22Wine-Searcher
  • Cantina Terlano

    Alto Adige Terlano Pinot Bianco Vorberg Riserva

    Banville import; the serious bottle, large-cask aged, with smoke, quince, herbs and 20-year aging potential.

    $45 to $55Wine-Searcher
  • Cantina Tramin

    Alto Adige Gewürztraminer

    From the grape's namesake village; lychee, rose, ginger, dry and surprisingly fresh for the variety.

    $20 to $25Wine-Searcher