South Tyrol wine

South Tyrol (called in Italian Alto Adige) is an autonomous province located in northeast Italy producing wine.

[1] Because of its unique history and location within the southern Alps and Dolomites, in this region grows a wide range of grape varieties that are not usually seen in other parts of Italy.

The South Tyrolean winegrowing area is highly influenced by the Mediterranean climate, which in the Adige Valley (Überetsch-Unterland, Überetsch, Bozen, Terlan, Burggrafenamt) arrives up to Meran.

During the Roman Empire flourished the wine production in what is now southern Alto Adige and were created the Lagrein, Schiava and Teroldego grape varieties.

Decisive for the winemaking in South Tyrol was 1971, when people returned to the division and classification of wine zones according to the PDO rules.

Since 1964 has been created the Wine way, a famous tourism attraction that stretches from Merano to Salorno in southern Alto Adige.

Unique in its field in Italy, it is a region where 20 different grape varieties are cultivated on a land of 13,000 acres (5,300 hectares), which yields 3.9 million cases (50,000 hectoliters) of wine.

Thanks to the so-called "integrated winegrowing", South Tyrolean farmers strengthen the natural defences of the vineyards, protecting beneficial insects and supporting their spread.

Strict limitations of yields and the consistent conversion of the classical pergola to the modern wire frame (Guyot) improved the quality of the grapes.