Start impressive red wine experiences in Alto Adige, where every vine narrates. The rugged terrain of the Italian Alps offers the backdrop for elegant vineyards that produce a few of Italy’s finest wines. From crisp whites to robust reds, Alto Adige uses a flavorful journey for white wine lovers. Explore this stunning area and appreciate the essence of its unique terroir.
Advantages can be found in little packages, which holds true with the Alto Adige wine region. Found in Northeast Italy, it is among the tiniest wine-producing locations in Italy, however its wines pack a big punch.
Nestled up against the Dolomite mountains, the Alto Adige is considered among the most gorgeous white wine regions on the planet. The beautiful surroundings, coupled with a boost in quality white wine, is drawing oenophiles trying to find new wine areas to check out. Today, over 98 percent of Alto Adige red wines are DOC classified, the second greatest distinction of quality in Italy.
< img src=" https://www.wanderwithwonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/HQ_Kaltern_B6A5726-1.jpeg "alt="Alto adige"width="1200" height= "800"/ > The gorgeous Alto
Adige wine area. Photo thanks to Benjamin Pfitscher What’s in This Article: Toggle A Surprising Area Visitors to the Alto Adige looking for Italian la Dolce Vita will be surprised. The area, also called Sudtirol, was under Austrian rule for 550 years. A treaty at the end of World War I ceded it to Italy.
The result is that Alto Adige is far more Germanic than Italian in its architecture, food, history, and language. When my hubby and I got here, we remarked that the landscape looked a lot more like his native Switzerland than Verona, where we had actually originated from.
The alpine feel of the Alto Adige. Image by Dena Roché Where to Stay My other half and I wanted an immersive experience in the region, so we concentrated on selecting a home base from Vinum Hotels Sudtirol, a group of 20 family-run hotels owned by hoteliers who are also winemakers or sommeliers.
We picked the first-class Hotel Turm in Fiè allo Scilia because of its history and art focus.
The hotel makes up three houses and numerous towers, consisting of a tower dating to the 13th century. The home has been a court house, jail, house for the regional priest, private vacation home, and eventually a hotel.
The hotel radiates Germanic architecture, and within, we’re welcomed by a friendly woman in a traditional dirndl who inspects us into our suite. While the exterior of Hotel Turm is traditional, inside the spaces are modern, done in neutrals and black, and marrying modern, clean-lined furnishings with conventional case items. The view of the mountain town from the terrace is postcard-perfect.
The historical Hotel Turm. Picture thanks to Hotel Turm Functions of Art After getting settled, we explored the hotel. With over 2000 art pieces talented by owner Stephen Pramstrahler’s father, practically no wall is unadorned with oil paintings, watercolors, and lithographs by artists like Joseph Beuys, Oskar Kokoschka, Otto Dix, Paul Klee, Giorgio de Chirico, and Renato Guttuso. There’s even a Picasso in the bar.
When Pramstrahler is on the residential or commercial property, he leads a guided art tour to assist visitors immerse themselves in the collection.
Art is everywhere you look at Hotel Turm. Photo thanks to Hotel Turm Gourmet Eats The dining establishment at Hotel Turm has actually made many culinary awards, consisting of 2 red hats in the Gault & Millau and 3 spoons in the Schlemmer Atlas, so I more than happy that a remain at the property consists of breakfast and supper.
Like a lot of high-end European hotels, the breakfast buffet is suitabled for a king. A choice of fruits, yogurts, cereals, cheeses, meats, and pastries is difficult to withstand. A lot so that it leaves little room for the cooked-to-order eggs. The buffet has a juicer on hand to make your own fresh-squeezed concoction if you’re trying to find something healthy, and Prosecco and juice to craft a mimosa if you’re not.
We can buy off the multi-course Romantik menu, the 1,001-calorie menu, or a mix between the 2 at dinner. Both menus fuse German and Italian cuisine. My other half had Wiener schnitzel one night while I enjoyed a pasta meal. If you don’t have a craving for sweets, pick the cheese plate for dessert. They’ll wheel out a cheese cart for you to choose all or a few of the local cheeses, in addition to fruits of your option.
< img src=" https://www.wanderwithwonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/turm-table-service.jpg "alt ="Cheese service at Dining establishment Turm "width= "900" height= "1200"/ > Tableside cheese service caps a meal at Restaurant Turm. Photo by Dena Roché Alto Adige Red Wine Co-ops A few of my favorite wine areas get my heart since of the spirit of partnership and neighborhood amongst the winemakers. That is certainly the case in Alto Adige, where 74 percent of its wine production comes from a lots cooperatives.
In the 19th century, earning a living in the area as a wine maker was a struggle. In the 1890s, several small white wine growers united to form the area’s very first co-op. Today, 12 co-ops permit 3200 red wine growers to delight in success at a level they ‘d never ever accomplish independently.
< img src ="// www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201080%20608'%3E%3C/svg%3E"alt="wine maker in vineyard "width ="1080"height= "608"/ > A spirit of community is among the important things that makes Alto Adige so unique. Photo courtesy of Alper Omir Esin Alto Adige’s Newest Co-op In the Alto Adige’s many northern and coolest region lies Valle Isarco, home to the youngest co-op, Cantina Valle Isarco. Established in 1961, it represents 130 wine growers working 370 acres of vines.
Many of the vineyards here are planted at high altitudes, which, combined with the cool air from the mountains, implies this part of the Alto Adige produces a few of the crispest fragrant white wines. It’s the place to sample kerner, sylvaner, and riesling and to purchase bottles that can age in your cellar, thanks to their high level of acidity.
I’m shown around the winery by its handling director, Armin Gratl, and then handled an unique check out to one of their vineyards, which, up until two years earlier, was part of an abbey. Due to the fact that it was a cloistered abbey, it was closed to the outside world, and even today, very few have the chance to see the vineyards. While there, we sample the Sabiona Kerner and Sylvaner grown here.
< img src="https://www.wanderwithwonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Ville-isarco-monestary.jpg"alt ="Abbey and vineyards in Alto Adige "width="900"height=" 1200 "/ > Cloistered no more. The abbey and vineyards of Cantina Valle Isarco. Photo by Dena Roché Novacella Abbey Winery For some, red wine is a spiritual experience.
It definitely is at the Novacella Abbey. The church dates to 1142, and monks have produced red wine here because 1630, making it among the oldest active wineries on the planet. The abbey is in the Valle Isarco area, so it’s not a surprise that fresh, acidic, fragrant red wines were the first to be grown here. Considering that the 1960s, 60 farmers have actually sold grapes to the abbey, allowing the winery to produce a range of varietals of whites and reds. On my trip, I discover that the present wine maker always has a few brand-new red wines he’s explore that often entered into the standard offerings.
Among the best ways to delight in the red wines is with a vineyard tour and tasting. A museum is on website, perfect for anybody thinking about the Middle Ages and early contemporary art.
Tasting the wines at Novacella Abbey Winery. Image by Dena Roché Women and Red Wine Elena Walch was an architect who, in the 1980s, married into the Wilhelm Walch white wine family, among the most developed in the area. Though she wasn’t a qualified wine maker, she had a passion for red wine and innovation. She wanted the winery to concentrate on estate red wines that sang their terroir. As her new approach proved effective, she informed her spouse she wanted her name on the red wines she made.
Eventually, that side task grew, and Elena Walch became its own significant estate in Alto Adige. Elena’s tradition is now being driven by her 2 daughters, Julia and Karoline.
We were lucky enough to visit the winery at Castle Ringberg at harvest and see the labor-intensive work that goes into making the winery’s lots of wines. This site is the brand’s most important single vineyard. Located above Lake Caldaro, with the 16th-century castle onsite, it’s a spectacular place to sample the red wines.
Elena Walch is the Queen of Gewürztraminer, and we tested the Gewürztraminer Vigna Kastelaz. The single-vineyard white is aromatic, spicy, and scrumptious. It was my favorite white wine we sampled.
We also have the opportunity to attempt some reds, as the environment warms, they’re ending up being more typical in the Alto Adige. They can grow well here, as Elena Walch Ludwig was called Italy’s finest pinot noir.
Tasting red wines at the historical Castle Ringberg at Elena Walch. Picture by Dena Roché The Grottnerhof At the end of our remain in Alto Adige, we visited Hotel Turm’s winery, The Grottnerhof. The white wine estate boasts very high vineyards that grow pinot blanc, sauvignon blanc, gewürztraminer, and pinot noir.
We toured the 13th-century estate with the sommelier from the hotel’s dining establishment. The restored structure has 2 suites, and anybody searching for complete privacy would like.
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We’re ushered into a dining location lit by candles for an intimate tasting of the red wines. Each bottle has a different bird on the label due to the fact that the owner’s household enjoys birds. The Pinot Blanc, my favorite of the white wines, sports a magpie, the little bird symbolizing it’s the lightest red wine winemaker Markus Prackwieser makes.
My preferred white wine from The Grottnerhof collection. Photo thanks to Hotel Turm. If you have actually done Napa, Tuscany, and Burgundy and are a white wine lover searching for a community-driven wine area with exceptional red wines for your next experience, look no more than the Alto Adige. Make certain to explore more red wine posts on Wander With Marvel.
< img src="https://www.wanderwithwonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Epic-Wine-Adventures-in-Alto-Adige-1-667x1000.png" alt="Vineyard on a hillside with a lake and mountain peaks in the background." width="667" height="1000"/ >.