BASSA ATESINA, warm, extensive winegrowing zone in the south of northern Italy’s Alto Adige (Südtirol) region (see Alto Adige DOC). Bassa Atesina is also known as the Südtiroler Unterland or the South Tyrolean Lowlands. The area is traversed by the Adige river as well as by both the Brenner motorway and railway. The region is influenced by the mild climate of nearby Lake Garda which allows late-ripening grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon to be grown in what are Alto Adige’s highest vineyards, at altitudes of over 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) above sea level. In the extreme southern part of the area vines grow at much lower altitudes of 200 metres (600 feet). Fennberg mountain near Margreid in the north and the village of Salurn in the south mark the extreme points of this part of the province, where Müller-Thurgau feels right at home at high elevations and  Pinot Noir trellises wind their way through the villages of Mazon and Montan. Gewurztraminer continues to remain true to its ancestral homeland, the village of Tramin.

TOWNSHIPS (‘COMUNI’) / Aldino, Anterivo, Bronzolo, Cortaccia, Cortina, Egna, Laives, Magrè, Montagna, Ora, Salorno, Termenro, Trodena and Vadena.

VINEYARD AREA / 2018 1,872ha (22 white, 34% red). Main grapes: Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Schiava, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir.

SOILS / Limestone and dolomite. From Termeno to Cortaccia this is mixed with loamy rubble. Sandy marl in the far south.