Appears in
Oxford Companion to Wine

By Jancis Robinson

Published 2006

  • About

Trentino, the southern and principally Italian-speaking half of Italy’s central alpine region of trentino-alto adige. Trento is the regional capital. Viticulture is centred on the valley of the Adige and the hills immediately to the east and west of the river, with an occasional excursion to side valleys such as the Valle dei Laghi and the Val di Cembra. The terrain further east and west into the Dolomites and the Gruppo di Brenta mountains is too rugged and mountainous for viticulture. Although the region is far to Italy’s north, and Trento is on the 46th degree of latitude, the climate is not necessarily cool, as heat rapidly builds up at lower elevations during the summer months (see topography). Viticulture is therefore by no means confined to early-ripening vine varieties.