Italian Wine Club July 2024: Trentino-Alto Adige/Sudtirol

TRENTINO-ALTO ADIGE/SUDTIROL

This month we’re taking it straight to the top, visiting Italy’s northernmost region and leading source of stunning Dolomite peaks, subsequent green valleys, and befuddling nomenclature. Even the above mouthful is an abbreviation, the hyphens and slashes at once repping and yadda yadda yadda-ing centuries of tradition, turmoil, contestation and change. But it’s worth it to do the toponomastics (a real, actual word that means: the research and study of place names) when it comes to Trentino Alto-Adige; the guises it has gone through over the years are the story of the place, inscriptions of its singularity, in terms of wine and every other thing. 

Trentino-Alto Adige holds a special, semi-autonomous status and consists of two territories: Alto-Adige in the north, also known as Sudtirol, which corresponds to the autonomous province of Bolzano, and Trentino in the south, corresponding to the autonomous province of Trento. Though this arrangement dates back to 1948, the last local holdouts only officially accepted it in 1992. The population of Bolzano is largely German-speaking, while Trento primarily uses Italian. 

You can trace this bifurcation back to the Romans, who invaded in 15 BC and divided the area into two separate states. Following the fall of the Empire, the Bavarians took over present day Alto Adige, while the Longobards extended their influence to the Duchy of Trento. The two provinces then spent centuries as contested spaces for invasions, peasant rebellions, various struggles between Church and Empire - and were mostly administered separately, before Napoleon briefly united them, and named the northern part Alto Adige to efface its prior relationship with Tyrol. After his exile, the place passed into the hands of the Hapsburgs, where it was again called Tyrol - though today’s Alto-Adige/Sudtirol was sometimes referred to as Mitteltirol, i.e. Middle Tyrol while Südtirol, i.e. South Tyrol, indicated mostly today's Trentino, which is not called Sudtirol anymore. 

Confused? There’s more: after World War I and the dismantling of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the whole region was awarded to Italy, just in time for Mussolini to engage in a campaign of forced Italianization, outlawing references to Tyrol and renaming it Venezia Tridentina to emphasize a historical link with one of the Roman states that used to constitute it. Nazi Germany also occupied its heights for a brief period, but several post-war treaties between Austria and Italy later, things seem as settled as plausible: a 2006 attempt to mount a referendum, in which the electorate could vote to stay with Italy, become fully independent or return to Austria, was soundly rejected.

Wine-wise, Trentino-Alto Adige boasts one of the most unique and variegated scenes anywhere: responsible for less than one tenth of Italy’s total wine production, it leads the country in bottles meriting a DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) designation, as 98% of the output qualifies. Though there are still a lot of individual producers (including both of our bottlings here) 70% of the wine is made in large communes across a jigsaw of small vineyards with different exposures, elevations and microclimates, featuring soil types ranging from volcanic porphyry to weathered rock soils composed of quartz and mica, to limestone and dolomite, to sandy marl. The grapes are a mix of international varietals like Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc (many introduced by Archduke Johann of Austria during the Habsburg reign) and indigenous varietals grown nowhere else. 

Our selections this month furnish a little bit of each: the white, Mani Nossing’s “Sais Rigais” is made from the hybrid Muller-Thurgau grape, created in Germany in the late 19th century by combing Riesling and the table grape Madeline Royal, but arguably made best in Alto Adige today. The red is 100% Teroldego, a varietal indigenous to Trentino; the winemaker this month, Elena Foradori, is unquestionably its most famous exponent. 

Ingredients

• 350 g fettuccine or tagliatelle, pappardelle or penne
• 100 g speck or pancetta cut into small cubes or strips
• 1-2 red radicchio (Italian chicory)
• 1 small white onion
• ½ glass of white wine
• 100 ml heavy cream (or italian cooking cream)
• 50 g parmesan grated
• salt for pasta and to taste
• black pepper to taste
• 2-3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 handful walnut pieces

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Wash and shred the radicchio (soak leaves in water for 20 minutes before shredding if you want to reduce the bitterness) finely chop the onion and cut the speck into cubes or short strips.
2. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan or skillet and add the onion and ⅔ of the speck. Sauté for a couple of minutes until the onion becomes translucent.
3. Add the shredded radicchio and a pinch of salt. Cover and let cook on a low flame for about 10 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
4. In the meantime, put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Add salt once it starts to boil and bring to the boil again. 
5. Fry the rest of the speck in a small frying pan with a dash of olive oil until it becomes crispy.
6. Pour the white wine into the pan with the radicchio, turn up the heat and cook until the alcohol has evaporated.
7. Add the cream to the radicchio, stir and simmer on a low heat for another couple of minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. (don't be too generous with the salt as speck tends to be a little salty)
8. Cook the pasta al dente according to the instructions on the packet. Once the pasta is cooked, save a cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta.
9. Add the pasta to the pan with the sauce. Add some of the pasta cooking water if the sauce seems dry. Mix the pasta and sauce together well.
10. Serve with a sprinkling of crispy speck, walnuts (optional) and grated Parmesan.