Lagrein

Lagrein is the serious red of Alto Adige, and the counterweight to the region's other native variety, the pale and cheerful Schiava. DNA analysis has established it as an offspring of Teroldego and a relative of Syrah, which places it firmly in the old alpine and north-Italian family.

It produces a deeply coloured, almost opaque wine with substantial tannin, good acidity and dark fruit: blackberry, black cherry, damson and a distinct note of violet. There is usually a savoury, earthy, faintly bitter finish and a chocolate-and-coffee depth when the wine sees oak.

Its particular challenge is tannin management. Lagrein tannins can be aggressive and drying if extraction is heavy-handed or the fruit is not fully ripe, and the grape has historically needed careful handling and time in barrel to soften.

The best vineyards are on the alluvial gravel of the valley floor around Bolzano — specifically the Gries district, which is warm enough to ripen a variety that needs heat, in a province otherwise defined by altitude and cool. That inversion is unusual: here the good red sites are low and the good white sites are high.

It also makes a rosé, Lagrein Kretzer, which is deeply coloured and substantial.

Plantings are small and almost entirely confined to Alto Adige and neighbouring Trentino. It is one of the more distinctive Italian reds and remains little known outside northern Italy and Austria.