Hugging the mountainous border between Italy’s north and Austria’s south is a wine region known by two names – as Sud Tyrol to German speakers and Alto Adige to Italophones. The history of this bilingual region is peppered with conflict and early forms of ethnic cleansing during the world wars, but, happily, its twin cultures now live together as one.
In this special episode of The Drinking Hour, host David Kermode bucks tradition to pick the brains of three local experts on Alto Adige’s signature grape varieties, Schiava and Pinot Bianco.
After centuries as the region’s ‘workhorse variety’, Alto Adige’s indigenous red grape, Schiava, is having its time in the sun as chillable reds become more en vogue. Director of the Alto Adige Wine Consortium Eduard Bernhart explains why it’s referred to locally as a ‘seven day, 24 hour wine’, while CEO of Cantina Girlan Oscar Lorandi talks food pairings and the young generation of local winemakers championing Alto Adige’s ‘Cinderella’ grape.
The conversation moves to Pinot Bianco, easily the region’s most recognisable white grape, and one deeply rooted in Alto Adige’s vinous identity. Simon Kompatscher, agronomist at Cantina Terlano, talks altitude, diurnal range and steep slopes; the unique aspects of terroir which help to give the wine a South Tyrolean signature.
Discover more episodes of The Drinking Hour with David Kermode here.
