South Tyrolean Wine

The Southern Tyrol Wine Road (the main growing region of South Tyrol) runs at the west side of the Etsch Valley along the Mendel Mountain Range from Sigmundskron through the wine growing towns of Frangart, Girlan (winery Brigl), Eppan (with St. Michael, St. Pauls and Missian), Kaltern, St. Josef at Kalterer Lake, Tramin, Kurtatsch, Magreid, and Kurtinig towards Salurn. This area annually produces 300,000 to 400,000 hectoliters of wine of which 65% is red wine and 35% is white.

The most well known South Tyrolean varieties are the Vernatsch (ruby red, dry, mild and refreshing, consumed as a young wine), the Lagrain (mainly grown around Bolzano with 2 varieties: the Lagrein-Kretzer: a rose, fresh, fruity and enjoyed young; the Lagrein dark: full bodied, deep red, and velvety. The Gewürztraminer (mainly grown in Tramin) a heavy, full bodied white wine with a rich bouquet. The Blauburgunder (originally only grown in France) a dark, dry and full bodied red wine. The Merlot (brick to ruby red, light, pleasant and refreshing, and the Cabernet (first dark and ruby red but during prolonged storage turning brick red with a mild taste).

These excellent South Tyrolean wines can of course be sampled at a winery tour with wine tasting at the end or during the Wine Tasting Weeks. The most famous Wine Tasting Weeks are: The Bolzano Wine Tasting (in spring), Comparative sampling of Gewürztraminern from around the world (in Tramin in May), the Kalterer Festival (in late summer), the Traminer Wine Tasting Stroll (end of September), and the Unterlandler Wine Tasting Week (in Auer at the second part of October), plus many more.