The Vinschgau, Vintschgau (German: [ˈfɪn(t)ʃɡaʊ])[1] or Vinschgau Valley[2] (Italian: Val Venosta [ˈval veˈnɔsta]; Romansh: Vnuost [ˈfnuɔ̯ʃt] ⓘ; Ladin: Val Venuesta; medieval toponym: Finsgowe) is the upper part of the Adige or Etsch river valley, in the western part of the province of South Tyrol, Italy.

The German name Vinschgau, like Italian Val Venosta, is derived from the Celtic (Rhaetian) Venostes tribes mentioned on the ancient Tropaeum Alpium.

A Frankish Gau was established under Charlemagne in 772; it was first mentioned in a 1077 deed, when King Henry IV of Germany granted the estates of Schlanders in pago Finsgowe to Bishop Altwin of Brixen.

The Vinschgau Valley[3] runs in a west-east orientation, from the Merano basin at Partschins up the Adige river to Reschen Pass in the northwest.

Due to the insular location within the Central Eastern Alps, a rather warm climate and a lack of rain (400mm per year), fields, meadows and apple orchards are irrigated.