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Home , Ampezzo, Bianca (grape), Breganze, Cadore, Corvina, Corvinone

NORTHEAST 275

Freshness, crisp acidity, and purity of character personify the of the northeastern regions of -Alto , -Venezia Giulia, and the ; but beware the mass- produced wines, which are so clean and pure that they lack any fruit.

THIS IS A MORE MOUNTAINOUS area than the northwest (with the exception of that region’s Valle d’Aosta), as just over half the land is occupied by the and their precipitous foothills. Some of the finest wines are grown in the lush, verdant of the (Alto Adige), just over the border from . A great deal of is exported; the bulk of it is unexciting and . Locally there is much greater variety and value to be had—a number of French and German are grown in addition to fascinating local varieties, and dedicated

NORTHEAST ITALY, see also p.263 TERMENO VINEYARDS, ALTO ADIGE The variety of sites offered by the mountains and the hills of this area enables The town of Termeno, or Tramin, as it is also called, is situated between Bolzano many varieties to be grown in addition to local ones. The most exciting and , in the Alto Adige region. This is where the Traminer Aromatico, or wines come from the high vineyards of the South Tyrol, the hills of Friuli, and Gewürztraminer, is supposed to have originated, but the local clone is far more around in the Veneto. restrained than the classic Alsace version, with hardly any spice to its character.

Valdadige Casteller

3507 Teroldego Rotaliano Isa Alto Adige encompassing Terlano, rco 3435 Obergurgl Santa Maddalena, Colli di Bolzano Lienz Lago di Caldaro, Valle Isarco (6) 49 Bruneck Toblach Trentino, Casteller, Sorni 40 Drau 6 Brixen Gail , Bianco di Custoza, Spondinig 38 Meran Bardolino Classico (7) A 2221 dig Valpolicella, e TRENTINO Valpolicella Classico (8) Cortina 3899 BOLZANO/ d’Ampezzo 23 Soave BOZEN 13 52 Ampezzo Lessini Durello ALTO 51 2678

Dimaro e 42 c 2116 o FRIULI N Auer Agordo Bovec Gemona S o ADIGE del Friuli c Colli Berici a 2847 VENEZIA Colli Euganei Maniago Trento Tione di GIULIA Montello e Colli Asolani 1764 Trento 45 o Feltre t 56 n 13 di - e Vittorio Veneto 23 m

2 a Nova Gorica

2 Primolano i l

Riva del g

a 5 Lison-Pramaggiore

Garda Conegliano T 3 4 2236 VENETO 27 Monfalcone Friuli-Grave Bassano Lago 2 Portogruaro Collio di Garda Livenza 1 Castelfranco Grado Colli Orientali del Friuli Veneto VICENZA San Donà 7 8 di Piave Carso MESTRE Koper 4 1 Montebello PADOVA Vicentino 2 Piave Venezia Golfo di

o 603 i c 3 Friuli- n Venezia i 10 M Este 4 Friuli- Mantova Chioggia Adige O 5 Isonzo g l i 420 Ostiglia o Provincia boundary Adria Height above sea level (meters) Porto Tolle Mirandola Bondeno Copparo 0 10 20 30 40 miles

13 0 20 40 60 km 276 ITALY

AVERAGE ANNUAL PRODUCTION opportunity to replant their vineyards with several better-quality foreign grape varieties, starting with the , which was brought REGION DOC PRODUCTION TOTAL PRODUCTION to this region by Senator Pecile and Count Savorgnan in 1880. Over Veneto 17 million cases 110 million cases the past 100 years, the northeast has consistently demonstrated (1.5 million hl) (10 million hl) that the use of superior grape varieties and relatively lower yields Trentino-Alto Adige 8 million cases 17 million cases can produce wines of dramatically improved quality. Friuli is the (700,000 hl) (1.5 million hl ) home of some of the country’s finest wines, including many of its Friuli-Venezia Giulia 5 million cases 18 million cases (5 million cases) (1.6 million hl) most complex Cabernet blends. Girolamo Dorigo’s Montsclapade, which is the best of an exceptionally fine group of wines, is a Percentage of total Italian production: Veneto, 13%; Trentino-Alto Adige, 2%; Friuli-Venezia Giulia, 1.5%. typically Friulian blend of both Cabernets, Merlot, and . It is rare to find the Malbec variety on this side of the , but it fares well in Friuli and might well be the key to the complexity of producers continue to experiment. Austria to the north and these wines. A few rather unconventional blends are found, the to the east have influenced the styles produced. most unusual being Abbazia di Rosazzo’s multinational Ronco dei Roseti, which mixes the four varieties with the German TRENTINO-ALTO ADIGE Limberger, the Italian , and the obscure Tazzelenghe. This is the most westerly and spectacular of the northeast’s three Another Abbazia di Rosazzo wine, Ronco delle Acacie, is a rare regions, and more than 90 percent of its area is covered by masterpiece in the new Italian school of “superdeluxe” vini da mountainous countryside. It is made up of two autonomous tavola white wines—a category of dry white that is provinces, the Italian-speaking Trento in the south and the expensive but mostly disappointing. German-speaking Bolzano, or South Tyrol, in the north. In The largest volume of fine wines produced in the northeast Bolzano the wines may possess alternative German names and comes from Colli Orientali del Friuli, one of Friuli’s two colli, or can carry a QbA (Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete) “hilly,” areas. This one is situated close to the former Yugoslav designation. The generic Alto Adige DOC (Südtiroler QbA) is border and encompasses many varietal wines. These wines are remarkably good and accounts for one-third of the region’s total well worth looking out for—with the exception of the , DOC output. There are also numerous fine wines produced in which is a grossly overrated and horrendously overpriced sweet these cool, high vineyards. wine wherever it comes from. The Picolit produced in Colli Orientali del Friuli is the only one in Italy to have DOC status, THE VENETO but, in fact, the wine is no better than other examples to be found The Veneto stretches from the Po River to the Austrian border, throughout the country. between Trentino-Alto Adige to the west and Friuli-Venezia Giulia to the east, and most of the wines are grown on alluvial plains in the south. Once famous, but more recently infamous, for its FACTORS AFFECTING TASTE AND QUALITY Valpolicella and Soave, the Veneto is also one of the most exciting hunting grounds for some of Italy’s best Bordeaux-type blends, LOCATION techniques and experimentation HThe northeast is bounded by with foreign grape varieties. It was and there are signs that even the aforementioned abused wine the Dolomites to the north and the the first area to use cold names are beginning to regain a little of their former to the south. fermentation and, initially, the wines produced were so clean that respectability. CLIMATE they lacked natural character. There FSimilar to the northwest in that FRIULI-VENEZIA GIULIA is now much experimentation into summers are hot and winters cold how to increase intensity of flavor Situated in the northeastern corner of Italy, this predominantly and harsh, but fog is less of a through the use of new . mountainous region has grown many non-Italian varieties since problem and hail more frequent. There are unpredictable variations in GRAPE VARIETIES phylloxera wiped out its vineyards in the late 19th century. The the weather from year to year so GBlauer Portugieser (syn. naturally innovative Friulians (and South Tyroleans) used the are important, particularly Portoghese), , for red wines. , , (syn. Fernanda), ASPECT (syn. or Cruina), EVineyards are found on a Durello, (syn. Limberger), variety of sites ranging from the , Gewürztraminer, steep, mountainous slopes of 215 (Prosecco x Trentino-Alto Adige to the flat, Cabernet Sauvignon), Incrocio alluvial plains of the Veneto and Manzoni 6013 ( x Pinot Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The best Blanc), , , vineyards are always sited in hilly a Foglia Frastagliata, Malbec, countryside. , , Merlot, SOIL (syn. Rossara or DMost vineyards are on glacial Rossanella), Mondeuse (syn. moraine—a gritty mixture of sand, Refosco or ), (syn. gravel, and sediment deposited Moscato), , , during the Ice Age. Most are clayey Picolit, Pinella (Pinello), or sandy clay and the best sites are (syn. Pinot Bianco), (syn. often marly and rich in calcium. The Pinot Grigio), (syn. Pinot light, stony soil in the South Tyrol is Nero), Prosecco (syn. Serprina or rapidly leached by weathering and Serprino), Raboso (syn. Friularo), fertilizers have to be added Ribolla, Riesling, Rossola (syn. annually. Veltliner), Sauvignonasse (syn. Tocai Friulano), , Schiava AND (syn. Vernatsch), , JVINIFICATION Tazzelenghe, Teroldego, Tocai, BARDOLINO VINEYARDS The northeast has led Italy’s move Ugni Blanc (syn. ), Ripening grapes adorn rows of vines in the Veneto’s Bardolino area, toward more modern vinification , Vespaiolo. which has a good reputation for light, dry red, and wines.