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One of the best-kept secrets in the wine world has to be Alto Adige in northeast Italy. For one thing, it’s relatively remote, lying a few hours north of both Venice and Milan. For another, it’s one of Italy’s smallest wine regions, with just under 15,000 acres of vineyards — compare that with more than 240,000 acres in Sicily, Italy’s largest.
And yet, the mountainous Alto Adige (also known as Südtirol or South Tyrol), which borders Austria and where German is the dominant language, produces a wide range of outstanding wines that will appeal to many palates. I’ve written about the region’s Pinot Noirs, which should be on any Pinot lover’s radar. But that grape only begins to tell the story, as I was reminded over several days at the 2025 Alto Adige Wine Summit earlier this month.
One of the defining things about Alto Adige, its winemakers will tell you, is that it has the terroir and the climate for all kinds of grapes to thrive. That makes sense given that its vineyards are found everywhere from around 600 to 3,000 feet high, which means that the region has both a Mediterranean climate at the lower elevations and an Alpine climate where the higher vineyards lie. It gets very warm by day and very cool by night, a perfect formula for producing distinctive wines.
With a slightly smoky nose, this wine is marked by notes of green apple and citrus, a steely minerality, and a salty touch. The vines grow in the volcanic porphyry soils found around Bolzano, which contribute to its minerality and refreshing acidity. (The ‘23 vintage is available here.)
