Lago di Caldaro

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The Oltradige stretches from the slopes of the Mendola to the hills on the western side of the Adige Valley between Bolzano and Termeno, with Appiano and Caldaro as the most extensively cultivated wine-producing communes.
• To the north, the Alps form a bulwark that keeps cold winds at bay, while from the south a mild Mediterranean climate makes itself felt, with a mean temperature of at least 15 °C required for good grape ripening.
• Approximately 1,800 sunshine hours per year provide the vines and grapes with a mean temperature of 18 °C, conditions considered ideal for grape growing.
• On the vine-covered hillside slopes, gravelly soils derived from glacial movement and the resulting erosion predominate.
• Around Caldaro the soil is mainly of volcanic origin — red porphyry mixed with clay and sand — while calcareous-dolomitic soils are widespread in the southern portion of the territory.
• The Lago di Caldaro vineyard area encompasses 565 hectares, corresponding to an annual production of 60,000 hectolitres of wine.

• In the area around Lago di Caldaro there were already vineyards in the sixth century BC, and the local wine was appreciated in Rome during the imperial age.
• During the Middle Ages, nobles, wealthy citizens, bishops, and monks transported Alto Adige wine into Austria and southern Germany.
• From 1905 onwards, viticulture took on great economic and social importance, with the establishment of cooperative wineries and wine-producing estates.
• The most widespread traditional training system was the pergola, whose canopy above the vine protects the grapes from direct sunlight and hail.
• Today the vertical trellis (spalliera) system is also found in part, as it facilitates the use of machinery.

• The wine is characterised by a fruity bouquet with notes of cherry, raspberry, bitter almond, and violet.
• It is a dry, structured wine with soft tannins and a pleasant, refreshing level of acidity that makes for easy drinking.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

Sottozone

• Lago di Caldaro Zona A DOC (PDO)

All appellations in Italy

Sources

• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-IT-A0294
• Official trade body site — Consorzio Vini Alto Adige