he province of Bolzano can boast that it possesses one of the most ancient winemaking traditions in Europe. It enjoys a privileged position, climatically and geologically, that has always favored the cultivation of white and red grapes of the finest quality. It was in this area that the Romans discovered the benefits to be derived from preserving wines in wooden casks rather than in clay amphoras and, afterward, various orders of monks in the Middle Ages provided a further impulse to the cultivation of the vine in Alto Adige.Today, Alto Adige grape-growing and winemaking is distinctive because of the rich series of wines the region produces. In the province of Bolzano, in fact, nearly all of the premium European grapes are cultivated, in addition to the native varieties of Traminer, Lagrein and Schiava.
Some of the varieties currently grown in the Alto Adige go back to the Roman period, as indicated in some references by the natural historian Pliny the Elder. One of the types he scruplously described closely resembles Riesling Renano, the cultivation of which spread from Germany throughout Europe as far as Alto Adige. The same is true of Traminer, which the experts recognize in another detailed description of a variety that yielded a wine much appreciated by the Romans.
The Alto Adige leads the rest of the country in percentage of DOC as opposed to ordinary wines. More than 95 per cent of the whole area cultivated in vines is in fact subject to DOC regulations. Despite that fact, no more than two-thirds of the Alto Adige wines going to the market are Denominazione di Origine Controllata products because of the careful selection that the local wineries insist upon.
