Our vineyards are the vineyards of the city of Trento that are part of vineyards in
Trentino and the Dolomites. These vineyards are an integral part of the Trento landscape!
The Cantina Sociale is the wine heart of the city and is located in an ideal place for grape growing as well as being located in a region that has a great wine producing history.
A history of vineyards in Trentino
Viticulture was first documented in Trentino in the second half of the first millennium BC when it was introduced by the Raeti people who lived in the Trentino region and then it was perfected in the following centuries after the advent of the Roman era. Grape growing, which was used to not only satisfy their own consumption was mentioned in the writings of the seventeenth century chronicler of the Sacred Council of Trent Michelangelo Mariani, who reported that in Trento “ they produce wheat for three months and wine for three years”. It was only in the Hapsburg era that in both Trento and Trentino viticulture became on an important trade dimension that urged farmers to form cooperatives that still represent the main form of agricultural organisation today.
The vineyards in Trento today
Today Trento is the most important agricultural town in the province with its extreme diversity determined by the morphology of the environment, the altitude and the inclination of the slopes in the valley of the river Adige at the intersection with other secondary valleys in an environment that has been shaped and smoothed by millions of years of natural forces that create an alpine environment. Forests cover more than half the total area and the agricultural land is located on “terraces” and “alluvial fans” that can be found at an altitude of between 200 and 800 m ASL whose morphology is linked to the dynamics of canals and streams that have been carefully regulated over centuries of agricultural history.
In the same region different soil and climatic environments coexist that make it possible to cultivate different vines excellently.
Making the most of every single environment means that we are transferring the values and passion for the land that every one of our 400 members express for their vineyards to the future; limestone, basalt and porphyries engrain different personalities into wines and it is them we must “listen to” in order to plan the way forward for the future, provided that values of sustainability are always respected.
The winery vineyards zone by zone
On the hills to the east of Trento, the river Fersina creates a clear division between the two main wine growing areas: to the north lies Mount Calisio, also called “Mons Argentum” due to the mineral rich soil that give aromatic white wines and the base for sparkling wine a decisive flavour; to the south the Civezzano vineyards, located on the slopes of Calisio facing south east are the ideal place for Müller Thurgau.
Around the towns of Villazzano, Oltrecastello and Povo the predominantly calcareous moraine terraces with clay inserts are the best places for more structured white wines like Chardonnay and Traminer, and excellent for more full bodied reds.
To the south of the city along the road that climbs from Mattarello to Valsorda, is the best area for growing Merlot: the district of Novaline with its ten hectares is one of the most excellent areas in the whole province for producing the finest red wines.
On Mount Bondone, in Ravina, the gravelly and silty soil is home to the best Chardonnays for more structured and full-bodied wines, while to the north on a moraine terrace is home to the charming and well preserved hamlet of Belvedere that is famous for its Merlot and Lagrein.
In the Cantina di Trento “vineyard” there are micro areas that generate excellence that is the result of years of carefully selecting the grapes like the area of Besenello for Moscato Giallo and the Volano area for the native Marzemino.
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