Wine & Landscape Wine & Architecture Wine & Terroir ® Vernatsch, Lagrein, Gewürztraminer Culturonda Wine Wine & Vine 12 ways to explore and enjoy South Tyrol’s wine culture Wine & Wineries (in all winegrowing areas) Wine & History Wine & Monasteries Wine & Art Wine & Dine Wine & Legends Wine With All Five Senses Karo Druck Karo PRINTING: Cassandra Han Viti | Cassandra Han Viti TRANSLATIONS: South Tyrol Marketing Group/Alex Filz, Clemens Zahn, Frieder Blickle, Stefano Scatà; Export Organization South Tyrol/Frieder Blickle, Marion Lafogler; Merano Marketing/Frieder Blickle; Bolzano and Environs Tourist Bureau/Alberto Campanile, allesfoto.com, allesfoto.com, Campanile, Bureau/Alberto Tourist Environs and Bolzano Blickle; Merano Marketing/Frieder Lafogler; Blickle, Marion South Tyrol/Frieder Organization Export Scatà; Blickle, Stefano Frieder Clemens Zahn, Filz, Marketing Group/Alex South Tyrol Gabriele Crepaz | Gabriele Crepaz PHOTOGRAPHY: Winery/Niedermayr Manincor Andergassen; Cantina Tramin/Florian Bureau/allesfoto.com; Appiano Tourist Road/allesfoto.com; Wine Pöhlmann; South Tyrolean Bureau/Andre Tourist Isarco Ag; Valle Tappeiner TEXTS: 1/4/12 2:32 PM 2:32 1/4/12 1 40.indd 50 0 Verona 4 5 Points of Interest: >> Special occasions: South Tyrol’s asparagus triangle is located in the Adige 4 5 Milano Venezia 4 5 Brescia 4 5 Wine & Landscape Wine & Terroir >> The South Tyrol Wine Museum in Caldaro/Kaltern documents the region’s Valley, defined by the villages of Terlano/Terlan, Vilpiano/Vilpian and Sette- Treviso Bergamo 4 5 4 5 Picturesque vine-covered hills and steep vineyards The diversity of South Tyrol’s winegrowing areas wine history through archaeological finds and exhibits about art history, querce/Siebeneich. By late March, the first white spears are ready to be South Tyrol is miniscule in relation to many of Italy’s other winegrowing regions. Winegrowing in South Tyrol is extremely multifaceted. Vineyards are located at popular piety, handicrafts and vinification. Old and rare varieties grow in harvested. The farmers are members of the Terlano Winegrowers’ Coopera- Lugano When it comes to quality and international awards, however, the province (called elevations ranging from 200 metres to 1,000 metres. Within this considerable the vineyard; in autumn, visitors may taste grapes directly from the vines. tive, which supplies the ideal wine to accompany asparagus: the aromatic 2 Udine Trento 2 2 2 Alto Adige in Italian) packs quite a punch. Italy’s most trusted wine guide, Gam- range, the soils and microclimates vary enormously – often within the same >> The village museums of Termeno/Tramin and Cortaccia/Kurtatsch invite Sauvignon Blanc. bero Rosso, confirms this: every year, the publication heaps praise on South Ty- vineyard. One thing they all have in common: 300 sunny days per year. This visitors to delve into the rural traditions and wine culture of the southern >> Autumn is Törggelen time. Törggelen, from the Latin word torculum or “wine Bolzano/Bozen part of South Tyrol. The museum in Termeno even boasts a collection of in- 5 rol’s wines. In fact, a whopping 98.8 per cent of South Tyrol’s winegrowing area is unparalleled diversity makes it possible to grow over twenty different red and press”, begins with a walk and finishes with savouring the new wine, farm- 4 Cortina 2 2 registered for the production of DOC wines and is thus subject to rigorous qual- white grape varieties and to provide each with the “quality of life” it needs. ternational Gewürztraminer bottles, going all the way back to 1886. house fare, and roasted chestnuts. The tradition is especially enjoyable Merano/Meran 2 2 2 Bressanone/Brixen Glorenza/Glurns ity controls. Around 60 per cent of the area is planted with white grape varieties, While the South Tyrolean varieties Vernatsch, Lagrein and Gewürztraminer >> The Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle cultivate fifteen local grape varieties 2 along the Chestnut Trail (Keschtnweg) in Valle Isarco, which runs from Nova- Brunico/Bruneck 2 2 der Drau Drau der 2 Chur 2 2 Spittal an Spittal Vipiteno/Sterzing and few regions anywhere can match the diversity of white varieties and styles have spread around the world from here, the French Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir in order to protect them from extinction: Blatterle, Jungferler, Fraueler, and cella/Neustift Monastery, near Bressanone/Brixen, to Runkelstein Castle in 2 grown here. The character of South Tyrol’s lushest winegrowing area is sub- and Sauvignon and German Riesling were introduced here in the mid-nine- Gschlafener are just a few. These botanical gardens offer vineyard tours in au- Bolzano. Vaduz Mediterranean. It extends across the rolling hills to the south of Bolzano/Bozen 2 teenth century and have acclimatised perfectly. Most vineyards are planted on tumn, including to the Versoaln vine at Katzenzungen Castle, Prissiano/Prissian. >> The PUR Südtirol speciality shop in Brunico/Bruneck and at the Kurhaus in Innsbruck 4 5 Zürich 4 5 between Appiano/Eppan, Caldaro/Kaltern and Termeno/Tramin and is traversed hills and mountainsides where the soils consist of eroded rock, especially por- The Versoaln, a true rarity, is the world’s largest – and presumably oldest – vine. Merano/Meran, carries an assortment of 1,500 products that either come Bregenz by the South Tyrolean Wine Road. In the Isarco/Eisacktal and Venosta/Vinschgau phyry, and morainal debris deposited by glaciers. Depending on the site, one directly from South Tyrol’s farms or are processed in South Tyrol. Designer 2 valleys, vineyards cover the steep mountainsides – distinctly Alpine terrain. Here, variety will perform better than it would elsewhere. Info: Harry Thaler designed both locations, using pure materials from South Tyrol South Tyrol Wine Museum, Caldaro, phone: +39 0471 963 168 · www.museo-del-vino.it 12/18/11 4:46 PM 4:46 12/18/11 dramatic swings between daytime and nighttime temperatures result in vibrant, 1 15.indd Salzburg 4 5 in its construction, of course. Tastings take place regularly inside the shop’s Rosenheim Museum of People Through Time, at Hof am Orth, Cortaccia, phone: +39 0471 880 267 2 aromatic white wines, slender, with a firm but ripe acidity. Points of Interest: Grape harvest time is Törggelen time rustic wine cellars. >> Pinot Blanc and Sauvignon are grown all over South Tyrol, with the exception of www.museumzeitreisemensch.it München 4 5 Village museum of Termeno, phone: + 39 328 56 03 645 · www.bolzanosurroundings.info Points of Interest: the Isarco/Eisacktal Valley. Pinot Blanc yields magnificent, fruity wines on clay, Info: The Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle, Merano, phone: +39 0473 235 730 >> Wine is grown on hillsides straddling the South Tyrolean Wine Road, Italy’s lime and gravel in South Tyrol’s largest winegrowing municipality, Appiano/Eppan, General: www.suedtirol.info/foodandwine and www.altoadigewines.com www.trauttmansdorff.it oldest wine road. A wonderful way to explore South Tyrol’s most placid where it grows at elevations between 400 and 600 metres. Sauvignon Terlano Winegrowers’ Cooperative, phone: +39 0471 257 135, cantina-terlano.com www.suedtirol.info/gettingthere vineyard landscape is by bicycle. The route between Nalles/Nals and performs best in slightly warmer hillside vineyards. Valle Isarco Tourist Bureau, phone: +39 0472 802 232 · www.valleisarco.com fruiting canes are tied to the trellis wires in March. Buds burst forth in May, There Getting Salorno/Salurn runs through Bolzano, South Tyrol’s capital, and historical >> Pinot Noir produces wines of Burgundian finesse with an unmistakable and excess foliage is removed in summer. As soon as the clusters begin to PUR Südtirol specialty market, Merano, phone: +39 0473 012 100 · Brunico, phone: wine villages and passes sumptuous wine cellars and wine estates. varietal character at Mazon and Montagna/Montan on west-facing moun- change colour, the grapes are thinned out to ensure the optimum yield per +39 0474 050 500 · www.pursuedtirol.com Standard – Map Südtirol >> In the Isarco Valley, vines flourish on spectacularly steep mountainsides. A tainside terraces at medium elevations overlooking the Adige Valley above vine. The harvest begins in early September. Interesting trails have been laid Wine & Monasteries South Tyrol’s first masters of winemaking very scenic circular hike starts at the Gasthof Wirt an der Mahr tavern and Egna/Neumarkt. Soils here are well drained and rich in calcium carbonate; to enable wine enthusiasts to deepen their knowledge of South Tyrolean According to medieval chronicles, monks of the day consumed a litre of wine runs along the hills south of Bressanone/Brixen, passing vineyards and wine the afternoon wind cools the vines. International experts rave about the wines, varieties, sites and trellising methods. estates, all the way to Tschötsch. Pinot Noir grown here. per day – each. Religious establishments to the north of the Alps acquired vine- Wine & Legends yards in southern Tyrol to supply themselves with table wine and Communion >> It took a Herculean effort to wrest vineyards from the meagre lower slopes of >> Sylvaner and Kerner have become grape varieties characteristic of the Isarco Points of Interest: Of Nörggelen elves and secret cellars wine. Mention is often made of donations, as though the Tyroleans wanted to Monte Sole/Sonnenberg Mountain in the Venosta Valley. In the Merano Valley Valley. Both thrive here, between Chiusa/Klausen and Novacella/Neustift, >> The wein.weg trail begins in Caldaro/Kaltern, the Vernatsch stronghold, and By the Middle Ages, wine had become an important commercial product in buy their way out of Purgatory. In 1300, around forty monasteries in southern Basin, by contrast, the vineyards form an amphitheatre that encircles the town. in soils comprising eroded primary rock, quartz, slate and schist, which re- winds down to Caldaro Lake and back. The route passes idyllic vineyards South Tyrol. A litre of wine cost as much as a casual labourer earned in a day. No Germany carted wine northwards from their Tyrolean estates.