the alto adige wine road

Wednesday, June 28:  On our way to Verona, we made a little detour along the Alto Adige Wine Road, with a growing area of about 4,249 hectares and an impressive variety of wines. The individual wineries here form a complex mosaic. Due to the varying altitudes of between 200 and 1,000 meters, wine growers have a wide range of microclimates and soils. The local variety Gewürztraminer and vines of international reputation like Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir are grown here.

We made our first stop in Termeno. All around us were vineyards, cypresses, fig trees and lemon trees. The town was the home of the internationally renowned Gewürztraminer wine. We only stopped in this cute town for coffees and croissants as it was a bit early to start drinking wine. 😋

We drove through a few other towns and then made a brief stop to look at the sprawling St. Valentin Church and cemetery. We continued through a few more towns looking for the perfect winery to make a stop.

We stopped at Tiefenbrunner Winery for a cold lunch and wine. We spent a long time lingering over a Bistroteller – Charcuterie board: finely sliced speck, various South Tyrolean cheeses, air-dried salami, kaminwurze, olives and horseradish. I enjoyed a glass of Gewürtztrammer and Mike had a Pinot Grigio.

We got the idea to explore the Alto Adige Wine Road from our German neighbors at the farmhouse, Tim and Silke. If it hadn’t been for them, we wouldn’t have known anything about it.

After our lunch, we headed south to Verona, where we would stay three nights.