Nestled in Italy’s northeastern nook, Alto Adige, one of many nation’s most compact but pioneering viticultural areas, is advancing its esteemed Alto Adige DOC designation with a major new addition. The Consorzio Alto Adige Wines has lately introduced that, beginning with the 2024 classic, 86 well-defined and meticulously documented winery areas have been granted particular authorized standing as Further Geographical Items (in Italian “Unità Geografiche Aggiuntive” or UGA).
“Our purpose is to seize the distinctive character of every winery in each bottle,” mentioned Martin Foradori, Vice President of the Consorzio Alto Adige Wines and proprietor of the J. Hofstätter property. “Terroir” shouldn’t be only a advertising time period—it needs to be one thing you may really style in every glass of wine.”
Outlined by rigorous standards, every UGA displays a super alignment of soil sort, microclimate, altitude, slope inclination, solar publicity, rainfall, and extra. Whereas forward-thinking was important to this course of, custom additionally performed a major function, as lots of the chosen winery websites maintain historic significance. A land register relationship again to the mid-18th century supplied entry to invaluable historic land names, testifying the area’s wealthy viticultural heritage. Moreover, inside every UGA, permissible yields have been additional diminished by 25% in comparison with DOC laws, making certain optimum grape high quality and distinctive wines.
The perfect grape varieties for vineyards inside every UGA have additionally been rigorously outlined. Eduard Bernhart, Director of the Consorzio Alto Adige Wines, defined: “Wines that qualify for a UGA designation should be made solely with grapes from that particular website. Relying on the winery’s location inside a UGA, as much as 5 varieties could also be permitted, whereas some UGAs limit manufacturing to only one or two varieties.”
As of the 2024 classic, the geographical designation—comparable to Gries, Mazon, or Eppan Berg, to call just some of the 86 acknowledged UGAs—could also be listed on wine labels alongside “Alto Adige DOC.”
Producers wishing to make use of a UGA identify on their label are required to incorporate a pictograph specifically designed by the Consorzio. Alto Adige Wines It will enable shoppers to obviously acknowledge these particular wines, because the pictograph should seem on each the back and front labels.
“Very similar to different famend wine areas, we consider this initiative will set new benchmarks for distinctive and distinctive Alto Adige wines,” commented Andreas Kofler, President of the Consorzio Alto Adige Wines and of Cantina Kurtatsch. “These UGAs set up Alto Adige as a pacesetter within the highest high quality, terroir-driven winemaking.”
The creation of UGAs marks the end result of years of analysis, collaboration, and imaginative and prescient led by the Consorzio Alto Adige Wines. Contributions from agronomists, enologists, growers, and producers helped form the brand new classification, mixing innovation with a deep respect for custom.
