Alpine wines with mountain character

The Alps stretch from Monaco to Slovenia. Here and there along that route, wines are made. Most of them taste light and fresh, even though they are from a variety of grape varieties and come from completely different regions. On the tasting table was a bit of everything, well-known and also less well-known from Savoie, Valle d'Aosta and Steiermark Vulkanland, for example.
Text: Magda van der Rijst | Image: Unsplash

Talking about alpine wine gives the impression that there are vines all over the Alps. Of course, this is not true. No grape grows on top of Mont Blanc, Grossglockner and Matterhorn, but on some of the foothills of all those impressive mountains, conditions are ideal for viticulture. Although the variation in alpine wines is huge, they all have, to a greater or lesser extent, characteristics associated with mountain wines. Most, and obviously we are talking about the good ones, taste pure, uplifting, fresh, mineralic and full of energy.

1200 kilometres long

First about the Alps themselves. This vast 1,200-kilometre mountain range runs from Monaco through France, Switzerland and Austria into Slovenia. To the north, the chain picks up part of German Baden and Bavaria and to the south, the mountains run through northern Italy. Principality of Liechtenstein, a mini-state with an area of 160 square kilometres, lies entirely in the Alps. 

Cool cool

You know what summers can be like in the mountains: bright and light during the day, the sun warms things up nicely, but the altitude makes it cool considerably at night. That keeps the average temperature low so the grapes ripen there quietly and evenly. Grape varieties that do well there have often been around for centuries and can withstand sometimes extreme weather conditions. They can take a beating, develop enough sugar for a mature wine with an alcohol content of at least 11 per cent, retain thirst-quenching acids and form fragrant aromas, but rarely exaggerate that fragrance.