Trentino-Alto Adige is located in the center of Italy's northern border. It touches both Switzerland and Austria. Among its tourist attractions are the Dolomite mountains, called ?the most beautiful work of architecture even seen? by the famous architect Le Corbusier, glacier lakes, and Alpine forests. In fact the region is composed of two parts, Trentino in the south and Alto Adige in the north. Alto Adige belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire for centuries, where it was known as S'dtirol. Like many other parts of Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige was often invaded. Unlike most other parts of Italy, this area is officially bilingual; a sizable portion of its population about 925 thousand is German speaking.
Trentino-Alto Adige has plentiful forests, and the hillsides are covered with fruit trees. This is Italy's major apple-producing region. Only about 15% of the land can be cultivated. Agricultural products include corn, wheat, oats, barley, and rye. In addition to beef and dairy cattle, mining and manufacturing are prevalent.
Trento is the administrative center of Trentino and Bolzano is the administrative center of Alto Adige. Both are tourist towns. Trentino was the site of the Council of Trent lasting almost twenty years in the middle of the 16th Century with a major impact on the Catholic Church. Both these cities, and many others in the region, have numerous churches and secular sites of interest to tourists.
Trentino-Alto Adige devotes about thirty thousand acres to grapevines, it ranks 16th among the 20 Italian regions. Its total annual wine production is about 25 million gallons, giving it a 14th place. About 55% of the wine production is red or ros?, leaving 45% for white. The region produces 8 DOC wines. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality wine. A whopping 79.1% of Trentino-Alto Adige wine carries the DOC designation, by far the highest percentage in Italy. Trentino-Alto Adige is home to almost four dozen major and secondary grape varieties, about half white and half red.
Widely grown international white grape varieties include Gew?rtztraminer, Pinot Bianco, often called Pinot Blanc outside of Italy, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, often called Pinot Gris outside of Italy, Sylvaner, and M'ller-Thurgau. In fact, some say Gew?rtztraminer originated in the Alto-Adige town of Termeno, known as Tramin in German. Italian white varieties include Nosiola, and Moscato Giallo, Trentino-Alto Adige's version of the international Moscato (Muscat) grape.
Widely grown international red grape varieties include Pinot Nero, called Pinot Noir outside of Italy, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The best known strictly Italian red varieties are Schiava, Lagrein, Teroldego, and Marzemino.
Before reviewing the Trentino-Alto Adige wine and cheese that we were lucky enough to purchase at a local wine store and a local Italian food store, here are a few suggestions of what to eat with indigenous wines when touring this beautiful region.
Start with Ravioli della Val Pusteria, Rye Pasta with Spinach and Caraway Seeds. Then try Gulasch de Manzo, Beef, Potato, Onion, and Paprika Stew.
For dessert indulge yourself with Krapfen Tirolesi, Fried Pastry with Marmalade and Powdered Sugar. Did you notice that these specialties seem as Austrian as Italian?
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY While we have communicated with well over a thousand Italian wine producers and merchants to help prepare these articles, our policy is clear. All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.
Wine Reviewed
Concilio Pinot Nero Reserva 2002 12.5% alcohol about $15
I'll start by quoting the marketing materials: ?Pretty aromas of strawberry, pepper and earth lead to flavors that are soft and velvety. Good varietal characteristics demonstrated here in ths light-to-medium bodied, long finishing wine. Match to a grilled salmon or tuna.
And now for my thoughts. This wine has a cherry and tobacco nose and is mildly acidic. It tastes of tobacco. The wine is round, mouth-filling and somewhat robust. It is a bit older than most of the wines in this series, and frankly, it shows. Like many Pinot Noirs, it tasted of earth.
Once in a while I follow the producer's suggestions. I felt this Pinot Noir was an excellent accompaniment to a grilled Atlantic salmon with steamed asparagus. The fish brought out the wine's fruit flavors, and the wine did a great job of cutting the fish's fattiness. I still remember the first time that I drank a Pinot Noir (Oregon, I believe) with salmon at the suggestion of a excellent fish restaurant. It's a great combination when both the fish and the wine are high quality. I ended this meal with almond milk chocolate, washed down with a bit of wine. This latter combination is not classical, but the result was more than satisfactory.
My next tasting included beef stew and potatoes, zucchini and onions in a tomato sauce, and a commercially prepared moderately spicy ?Turkish? salad based on red pepper, tomato, and onion. The wine was round, mouth-filling, a bit complex. The dominant taste was tobacco. But I was disappointed, the wine was short.
Asiago is a cheese whose characteristics differ widely depending on where it is made, and its aging. I happen to love a local Asiago that my neighborhood supermarket carries once in a while. It is relatively sharp. I am told that Wisconsin Asiago cheese typically has butterscotch undertones. The imported Asiago tasted with this wine was nutty and pleasantly acidic, but frankly not as good as the local version. The cheese brought out the earthy characteristics of the Pinot Noir. Interestingly enough, the wine immediately changed its flavor and became more acidic in the presence of a commercially prepared roasted butternut squash dip.
In a close call, my initial reaction was not to purchase this wine again. Then I changed my mind, I would purchase it again, but be quite careful in pairing the wine. There is a simple solution, serve it with a grilled, preferably Atlantic, salmon.
If you are looking for a European tourist destination, consider the Trentino-Alto Adige region of northern Italy on the border of both Switzerland and Austria. Among its tourist attractions are the Dolomite Mountains, that the famous architect Le Corbusier called "The most beautiful work of architecture even seen," glacier lakes, and Alpine forests. In fact the region is composed of two parts, Trentino in the south and Alto Adige in the north. This article presents Alto Adige; a companion article presents Trentino.
When you live in Alto Adige you have to declare your first language: choices include Italian (26.5%), German (69%), and Ladin (4%). There is a German-speaking majority in fully 103 of 116 communes, and only 5 have an Italian-speaking majority. We won't discuss the sometimes painful history of German-Italian relations in Alto Adige but are happy to say that the relations are now fairly good. As a tourist you'll be able to enjoy the two cultures.
We'll start our tour of Alto Adige at Caldaro near the border with Trentino. Then we will proceed basically clockwise visiting Naturno and Bolzano (the regional capital and largest city), and then pass the following towns and ski resorts which we won't have time to visit on this tour: Chiusa, Bressanone, Brunico, and Dobbiaco. We resume visiting at Cortina d'Ampezzo, and then proceed west to Canazei and to Lago di Carezza a mere 22 kilometers (14 miles) from our starting point. We'll do something here that we haven't done previously. In addition to the place name in Italian, we'll supply the German name in parentheses. Alto Adige, called Sued Tyrol in German, is still heavily German speaking and retains a distinctive Germanic, or more exactly Austrian, character.
Caldaro (Kaltern) is a village of about 7500 residents that annually attracts over 400,000 tourists. So you know the basis of its economy. Its architecture is a pleasing combination of Italian Renaissance and German Gothic elements as exemplified in the historic Church of Santa Caterina in the town center. The Caldero Lake claims to be the warmest in the Alps and so is enjoyable from May to September. Visit the Museo Provinciale del Vino (Provincial Wine Museum) situated in a princely manor. Caldaro is in South Tyrol's best wine region and you can walk from the museum to vineyards growing rare and ancient grape varieties.
The horticultural center of Naturno (Naturns), population about five thousand, is near the westernmost point of our tour. Be sure to see the Seventh Century Church of San Procolo, in particular its ancient frescoes among the oldest in the German-speaking world. Then drive a bit west to the Thirteenth Century Castel Juval now owned by Reinhold Messner, who holds two Mount Everest firsts. He climbed it solo and he climbed it without additional oxygen. This castle has become an inn, a winery, and a museum devoted to mountaineering and Tibetan art.
Bolzano (Bozen) is the capital of the autonomous province of Alto Adige. Its population is approximately 100,000, and includes many German speakers. However, Bolzano does have a heavy majority of Italian speakers. In this city you can hear two languages and enjoy two cultures.
Perhaps you will start with the Museo Archeologico dell'Alto Adige (South Tyrol Archeological Museum) whose star attraction is Oetzi, the more than five thousand year old iceman discovered in Italy near the Austrian border in 1991. The museum offers many other exhibits, both predating and postdating the world's oldest naturally preserved body.
The Duomo (Cathedral) was built from the Twelfth to Fourteenth Centuries in a Gothic style. Of particular interest are its frescoes and stone pulpit. The Porta del Vino (Wine Gate) on the outside of the building shows peasants at work in the vineyards. Remember, this is wine country. The Fourteenth Century Chiesa dei Domenicani (Dominican Monastery) was badly damaged over the centuries including during World War II. Some of its paintings and frescoes are in bad shape, however others are magnificent.
Other churches to see include the Thirteenth Century Chiesa dei Domenicani (Dominican Church), which hosts Bolzano's best collection of paintings and frescoes, its chapel Cappella di San Giovanni, and the Twelfth Century Vecchia Parrochiale (Old Parish Church) with a Romanesque crucifix predating the church itself and a Fifteenth Century Gothic wooden altar.
The vine covered Thirteenth Century Castel Mareccio (Mareccio Castle) is now a congress center with a courtyard that can accommodate up to two hundred people. A transparent roof ensures year round availability. The castle's frescoes can be seen only on Tuesdays in a free guided tour, either in Italian or in German.
Make sure that you visit Bolzano's two main squares. A statue of Neptune, god of the sea, overlooks the produce market in the Piazza delle Erbe. Go there before lunchtime and bring a picnic basket. The Piazza Walther with its Monument to Walther honors a local hero, the wandering minstrel Walther von der Vogelweide, a sort of Twelfth Century Bob Dylan.
Do you like walking? If so, enjoy numerous beautiful promenades including the 8 kilometer (5 mile) Passeggiata del Guncina with its view of the city, the Passeggiata di Sant'Osvaldo (Oswald Promenade) skirting vineyards on the edge of the city, and Passeggiate del Lungotalvera (Lungotalvera Promenade) along the river in the middle of town.
Cortina d'Ampezzo is a fairly exclusive, mostly Italian speaking, winter resort. Cortina was supposed to host the 1944 Winter Olympics but because of World War II had to wait until 1956. Known as "The Pearl of the Dolomites," it lies in a meadow some 4000 feet (1.2 kilometers) above sea level, surrounded by mountains. Its great site has made Cortina the location of many popular films such as The Pink Panther and For Your Eyes Only. Younger Italians seem to prefer Madonna di Campiglio, described in our companion article on Trentino.
Canazei is popular, mostly German speaking, winter resort in the Val di Fassa. Among its attractions are lovely little village and slopes for all levels of skiers. Be sure to take the cable car up to Col Rodella for a truly magnificent view of the mountains.
We finish our tour of this beautiful region at the mile-high glacier lake, Lago di Carezza. In this lake you can see reflections of the surrounding forests and mountains. We're almost back to our starting point of Caraldo. Don't you feel like doing this circular tour again? There is so much that we have seen, but there is so much that we haven't seen yet.
What about food? Alto Adige has a definite Austro-Tyrolean flavor. Some of the most popular foods include wursts, cabbage dishes, dumplings, and potatoes. Pork is big, especially Speck, Austrian smoked ham. One local specialty that I have no intention of trying is salami made from donkey. I'll stick with the sauerkraut.
Let's suggest a sample menu, one of many. Start with Sauersuppe (Tyrolean Tripe Soup). Then try Zuppa al Vino Bianco (Stew with White Wine). For dessert indulge yourself with Kastanientorte (Pureed Chestnut Cake). Be sure to increase your dining pleasure by including local wines with your meal.
We conclude with a quick look at Trentino-Alto Adige wine. Trentino-Alto Adige ranks number 16 among the 20 Italian regions when it comes to acreage devoted to wine grapes and number 14 for total annual wine production. The region produces about 55% red and 45% white wine. There are eight DOC wines of which three are found in Alto Adige (one DOC wine is shared with Trentino and another with Trentino and with Veneto.) DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality wine. A whopping 79.1% of Trentino-Alto Adige wine carries the DOC designation, this is by far the highest percentage in Italy. The Alto Adige DOC designation is divided into several subzones. The most recent Trento-Alto Adige wine that I tasted was a Vino Novello (New Wine) that probably wasn't typical of Trento-Alto Adige wine but was typical of Vino Novello wine. The less said the better. However, there are several fine Alto Adige wines. The San Leonardo, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, is said to be quite good but is pricey. You may do well with a less expensive bottle based on the local red Lagrein grape, if you can find one.
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This article is written by Levi Reiss
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