Summary: 

Alto Adige is a land of spectacular contrast and diversity. Positioned in northeast Italy, on the sunny side of the Alps, it is an area where men and mountains have met for centuries. It is a frontier region; not just politically but geographically, climatically, and viticulturally. Winemaking here requires a special skill set.

Vineyards are planted from 200m to 1000m and experience huge diurnal swings in temperature, while alpine geology delivers an immense diversity of soils.

This goes part way to explaining how, in a region no larger than St Emilion in Bordeaux, there are nevertheless over 20 different grape varieties grown. These are cultivated by around 5000 individual wine growers owning, on average, just 1 ha of vineyard each, and yet between them, they manage to produce 98% of Italy’s DOC, top-quality wines which are increasingly successful in finding their way into international markets.  

Join Nancy Gilchrist MW to learn more about this extraordinary yet relatively little-known region, and discover some of the measures this finely balanced ecosystem is adopting in the face of climate change. 

Presenter:  Nancy Gilchrist MW

Nancy is an independent wine educator and a Master of Wine since 1995. She was the wine columnist for The Boston Globe before returning to the UK where amongst many other things she created Academie du Vin @ 67 Pall Mall and was a director of Christie's Wine Education. She still lectures at Leith's School of Food & Wine and is an acknowledged reference on the interaction of food & wine. She also specialises in the wines of South Africa and is UK Ambassador for the Consorzio Vini Alto Adige.