{"id":9892,"date":"2022-07-08T14:30:37","date_gmt":"2022-07-08T19:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/?p=9892"},"modified":"2022-07-08T17:41:48","modified_gmt":"2022-07-08T22:41:48","slug":"schiava-perfect-summer-red-wine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2022\/07\/schiava-perfect-summer-red-wine\/","title":{"rendered":"Schiava is the Perfect Summer Red Wine for Grilling #winePW"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s the height of summer and hot as Hades, so of course I\u2019m looking for some summer wines to cool off with. The #winePW group of writers and I are sharing some of our favorite summer sips paired with tasty bites. For me, its all about Schiava and tasty BBQ. This is the ultimate red wine for summer!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019ve said it before and I\u2019ll say it again, I\u2019m simply mad about the white wines of Alto Adige-S\u00fcdtirol. They are the people that\u00a0convinced me that all Pinot Grigio was not simply alcohol water<\/a>. They showed me that Chardonnay outside of Bourgogne and California\u2019s Central Coast\u00a0could seriously make me swoon<\/a>! And they showed me that smaller could indeed be better \u2013 they are one of Italy\u2019s smallest wine regions, but make an amazing array of wines. And they are all about quality. Over ninety-eight percent of the region\u2019s production falls under DOC classification \u2013 the highest of any Italian region. It just may be one of the highest quality wine regions hiding in plain sight. I\u2019m so smitten with the region that I even penned a piece for the folks at a the Vintner Project because I wanted to tell the story of this beautiful region. Be sure to check it out:\u00a0The New Guard Forges Ahead in an Ever-Changing Alto Adige-S\u00fcdtirol<\/a>. But as much as I love the white wines, I\u2019m here to talk about one of their red wines that legit has me excited – Schiava!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some Background<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As one of the oldest wine regions in Europe, there have been many changes and shifts in wine focus over centuries in Alto Adige-S\u00fcdtirol. The existence of wine in the region dates back to at least 500 B.C. and had early contributions from the Rhaetians, Romans, Bavarians, and Swabians. During the Middle Ages, monasteries from what is now southern Germany, acquired wineries and engaged in winemaking activities that would last for nearly a thousand years. In the beginning, it was all about youthful white wines, but the 16th century marked a shift to red wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around 1850, during the time the region was under the control of the Hapsburgs, Burgundy varieties and Riesling were introduced to the area by Archduke Johann of Austria. Bordeaux varieties were not far behind. In fact, because of this early introduction of numerous grapes varieties, the region today continues to have a wide diversity of plantings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That Austrian influence also explains much about the region as a whole. Sharing a border with Austria, the region is in many respects more Germanic than Italian. Alto Adige-S\u00fcdtirol was a part of some version of the Austrian and Austro-Hungarian empires for centuries and only became a part of Italy at the conclusion of the First World War. The population largely speaks both German and Italian and a majority of the population are native German speakers. Because of this confluence, wine labels may include descriptions in Italian or German \u2013 or both. Even the wine regions are spoken of in both Italian and German, e.g. \u201cLago di Caldaro\u201d aka \u201cKalterersee\u201d and \u201cAlto Adige\u201d aka \u201cS\u00fcdtirol.\u201d This also explains my hyphenation of the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, Alto Adige-S\u00fcdtirol is comprised of two DOCs – Alto Adige (which has six sub-zones) and Alto Adige Lago di Caldero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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