Alto Adige Wine Summit 2021: third edition kicks off

Today is the kick-off of the Alto Adige Wine Summit 2021, marking the third time the province’s most important wine event takes place. Starting on 9 September, wine experts, trade journalists and influencers from 10 different countries are granted insights into the diversity of local wine and the landscapes in which it is cultivated.

As a wine country, Alto Adige is full of contrasts – this single region boasts a variety of grapes, altitudes and soil types, thus creating a diversity that is reflected in the Alto Adige wines. “We have invited experts from around the world in order to showcase this diversity and give them insights into the viticultural traditions that have been kept alive here for centuries,” explains Eduard Bernhart, Director of the Consorzio Alto Adige Wines, which is organising this event in collaboration with IDM Südtirol – Alto Adige.

“Facilitating an exchange of ideas and expertise with our winemakers and cellarers is just as important, of course,” says Bernhart. The event therefore includes meetings with a total of 80 producers. “These talks between our experts and visitors take place face-to-face or via digital media, always mindful of the prevailing safety measures,” explains the Director of the Consorzio. “Either way, the Alto Adige Wine Summit gives wine enthusiasts a behind-the-scenes look into the wine country itself and Alto Adige’s local wine culture, in both small and large production facilities.”

The summit agenda kicks off with a welcome dinner for the international experts at Maretsch Castle in Bolzano, which includes an exclusive tasting of Alto Adige sparkling wine. This year’s event then continues over at the NOI Techpark, where the experts can partake in a tasting of around 260 Alto Adige wines. This inspiring atmosphere not only highlights the many facets of local wine culture with its approximately 20 different grape varieties, but also showcases the special characteristics of individual vintages and rare wines that are not yet available in stores.

At the same time, digital meetings will be taking place between viticulturalists from Alto Adige and trade journalists from Hong Kong, Japan, Russia and the United States. Renowned wine experts from Asia and North America will also be joining these virtual talks from afar, allowing them to take part in the event despite the global pandemic. The Wine Summit also attaches great importance to the link between top-quality wines and top-quality cuisine, a symbiosis that has a long-standing tradition in Alto Adige. Award-winning chefs will therefore surprise the summit’s participants with their own culinary creations, developed in cooperation with the winemakers.

On 10 and 11 September, the guests are then invited along on a tour. In small groups they will be visiting nine selected Alto Adige wineries, where they will gain a deeper insight into the world of contrasts that characterises wine production in the region. The tour then continues from the vineyards up to the peaks of Alto Adige to dinner right in the middle of the mountains. In the chalets around the mountains of Merano, at the foot of the Odle, and on the Alpe di Siusi, just below 2,000 metres above sea level, the tour concludes by underscoring the influence these majestic mountains have on high-altitude viticulture in Alto Adige.

“The event’s agenda emphasises how important it is to us to show our guests the Alto Adige wine country and its characteristic diversity in all its glory,” highlights Andreas Kofler, President of the Consorzio Alto Adige Wines. “That makes the Alto Adige Wine Summit a unique opportunity: for us as a terroir, for us as producers and for Vini Alto Adige as a brand.”