Mountain Wines in Italy, heroic viticulture and grapes

Mountain wines are known for their strength in red wines, purity in white wines and, being cultivated in positions of high temperature difference between day and night, continental climate sometimes at altitudes exposed to the sun, very difficult even for cultivation and harvest.

This post explain a little bit about mountain wines and heroic cultivation for wine lovers and each Italian region and its grapes.

Why are they also called heroic viticulture?

The terraces are defined and clear the steep slopes of the mountains, precise culture of human settlements in the Alpine valleys, with very high maintenance costs.

Just imagining breathtaking landscapes, the grapes also develop very different characteristics from other cultivated plains.

The advantages of being cultivated at high altitudes are that they are very likely to be organically produced wines, due to their continental climate characteristics that hinder the proliferation of bacteria and diseases related to the vines.

Many are pre phylloxera, that is, the roots of the vines are not infested for a long time, and it may take some vines to live much longer and healthier.

Here in Italy, mountain wines are classified according to Cervim – “Center of Research of Montain Wines”- and explain the recognised areas for the production of italian mountain wines:

Trentino Alto Adige,
Aosta Valley
Lombardy (Valtellina)
Calabria
Sicily

These regions have common features for:

• Altitudes above 500 meters (1600 feet).
• Vineyards planted on slopes over 30%.
• Sometimes are suited on terraces or dykes.
• Difficult cultivation conditions, like planted on small islands

They are characterized as niche products, since the terraces and slopes make the traditional continuous cultivation difficult, they are very cropped land, which must be followed at every step of the ripening process.

Now for each region I explain the general characteristics and its native and international grapes, which have developed a very positive profile with this type of environment.

Trentino Alto Adige

The region is divided into two autonomous parts: a German-speaking Alto Adige part and a Trentino part, positioned to the south that speaks Italian.

If you want to know more about wine experiences in Trentino Alto Adige, Click here

The Alto Adige region was still a colony during the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1919, which is why the German language was used in Italy.

If we are heading south, precisely in the region of Trentino the native or autochthonous grapes are: Marzemino, Teroldego and Schiava. (pronounced “squiava”)

The international grapes that have adapted very well to the terrain and climate are: Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Besides the international grapes that produce the TrentoDoc – chardonnay and Pinot Noir sparkling wines that represent excellent sparkling wines produced with classic method.

Montain Wines from Valle d’Aosta

The smallest region in Italy, but it has many curiosities.

The region borders on France, and many speak French there.

Another thing is that because it is a very mountainous terrain the space reserved for the cultivation of grapes is only 500 hectares.

It is divided into three regions, as the main vocation for wine production as Central Valley for having sunnier regions and directed to the south (which has greater sun exposure during the day).

When we refer to Valle d’Aosta we think directly of heroic viticulture, which is characterized by having a terrain with a gradient and terraces so steep that they are almost impossible to reach.

Ah, yes the grapes grown here are also the Nebbiolo that produce the Picotener wine and we can also find Petite- white grapevine and Blanc de Morgex made especially from the Priè Blanc grape

Lombardy

Mountain wines here are located in the province of Valtellina, where they are particularly hard to reach.
They vary in altitude up to 4000 metres,

Imagine a Wine Road from Ardenno to Tirano, in a mountain range of the Retiche Alps.
Here is an ideal environment for red wine and, in particular, Nebbiolo grapes, here called Chiavennasca; Altitudes of 300 to 700 metres, a perfect combination with sun exposure and the climate mitigated by the proximity of Lake Como.

And what about Valtellina wine?

????Sassella Nebbiolo DOCG 2017 – from the Rainoldi winery

????Produced from Nebbiolo grapes, or also called Chiavennasca

After pressing, maturation in oak barrels follows for 24 months, as required by the disciplinary, after aging in wooden barrels

????Light ruby ​​red, velvety tannins, aromas of cherry, wild berries and light nuances of evolution

It can be aged for another 2 years to develop complex but delicate aromas like nutmeg.????

If you want to learn more about Nebbiolo, click here

Liguria

This region is one of the most mountainous, and is also part of many postcards in Italy. It hosts the Amalfi Coast, and a region made up of 60% mountainous and ingrim land.Unlike the other regions mentioned above, the climate is mite, it is part of a composition of moderate to cold climate depending on the season of the year.
The grapes are found in the Spezia region, where Cinque Terre:  Bosco, Albarola and Vermentino

Calabria

We are already at the “tip of the boot” of Italy, with the predominantly Mediterranean climate, and the influence of the two Tyrrhenian and Ionian seas. Here the Greeks considered “Enotria”, or “Land of Wine”, where powerful wines are produced here in large quantities, both to support the red wines in Italy and abroad.

Most of the land is mountainous. A good new is that “Costa Viola Wine and Flavour ” was recently created.

They created a standard of the first wine cooperative called “Enopolis Costa Viola” is allowing the gradual renewal of the vineyards. The inhabited areas are spread along the coast, downstream from the vineyards.

The Montain wines considered here are: Alexandria Muscat as white and the red grape varieties are: Black Malvasia, Nerello Prunesta “(perhaps Pinot noir) Gaglioppo, Sangiovese, Castiglione

Sicily

The largest island in Italy can be considered one of the richest wine producers in the country.
We can think of the Etna Region with a surface of 8000 hectares planted at an altitude of more than 500 m pending 30%.
The most prone production for indisputable quality red mountain wines, such as:

Nerello mascalese, Nerello capuccio, Nocera and white wines with great minerality as carricante and catarratto.

The white grapes to produce Montain wines here are: Carricante Catarata branca comum Inzolia and red grape varieties are: Nerello Mascalese Nerello Cappuccio, Alicante or Grenache

I hope you have been able to express the Italian territory from another point of view.

Mountain wines considered this way can also be considered in any other part of the world, such as the Canary Islands in Spain, Mendoza in Argentina where the vines are planted at much higher altitudes.
And do you know any other place that produce wines considered as mountain wines?