16.2 - North East Italy: Alto-Adige Flashcards
Describe the growing environment of the Alto-Adige including two key moderating factors
Mild, Alpine climate - 300-700m
Why not too cold?
- Warm air through valleys
- 300 days of sun
Rainfall is sufficient and evenly spread
Souls vary including volcanic, quartz, mica, limestone - allows for variety of grapes
How are vines trained?
Pergola - trad
Guyot - modern
Why does leaf plucking have to be performed carefully?
A warming climate means a canopy that is too thin can cause sunburn or drying
What are two important sub-zones and what do they grow?
Bassa Atesina - in south, warmer, grows most things, esp Muller Thurgau at high altitude
Oltradige - near Lake Caldaro for Schiava, Merlot and Cab S in valleys; Pinot Noir and whites at higher altitude
What are the three most planted black grapes and the five most planted white grapes?
Describe the characteristics of Schiava
Group of four varieties that are commonly co-planted
Vigour and high yields - pergola
Pale ruby
Violet, strawberry
Low tannin, light-med body
May be blended with Lagrein to add colour and body
Describe the characteristics of Lagrein
Need warmth and sunshine
Can suffer from poor fruit set - yields
Can be bitter if too much extraction
Deep colour for either reds or rose
Outline typical winemaking (6)
- Preserve fruit aromas
- Low-mid temp 12-15c
- Cultured yeast
- SST
- Some lees ageing 4-6mnths for better wines, up to a year
- Barrel ageing for top reds and whites
Under DOC rules, what categories of wine can there be? (3)
Bianco - Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio, no single variety >70%
Single variety, >85%
Two variety blends with >15% of each
Are max yields higher or lower in Alto-Adige cf. Trentino?
Lower but still high 90 hL/ha
Describe the average vineyard holding and which sort of producers dominate?
1ha per grower
Co-ops = 70% of production
Estates are important for HQ wines but are small
Where is wine sold?
75% domestic - 1/2 of that sold within the region via tourism
25% export - Germany and US