Red Grape · Trentino-Alto Adige
Bolzano's own red: inky, plummy and mineral, a cross of Schiava and Teroldego grown by monks since the 1500s. Also the source of Italy's best-kept-secret rosé, Kretzer.
Lagrein is the dark red grape of Bolzano, in the Alto Adige valleys of northern Italy. It makes an inky, plummy wine with real grip and a mineral edge, and a fragrant rosé the locals call Kretzer. A cross of Schiava and Teroldego, it has been grown by the monks of Gries since at least the 1500s.
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Also known as
The dark red. Dunkel is German for dark, Scuro the Italian; most labels now just say Lagrein.
The rosé, pressed quickly off the skins. Kretzer is the traditional Bolzano name; Rosato the Italian one.
Same wine as Alto Adige Lagrein: the DOC carries both names and producers pick one for the label.
From Gries, the Bolzano district that is the grape's historic home and still its best site.
Aged at least two years before release; the bottles to keep for a decade.
Old spellings found in the register and in Goethe's 1876 vine catalogue; not the white Lagarino Bianco.
The anchor fact: One grape, two wines and two languages. Lagrein Dunkel or Scuro is the dark red and Lagrein Kretzer or Rosato is the rosé. Südtirol on the label means the same DOC as Alto Adige.
Taste · Where it sits
Forget scores out of five. Here’s Lagrein described against grapes you already know.
Much fuller than Schiava, its parent, and darker than Pinot Nero from the same valleys; close to Teroldego, its other parent, in weight.
More grip than Teroldego or Schiava. The old wines were famously chewy, and shorter skin contact since the 1980s has tamed rather than removed it.
Higher than most reds this dark: the cold Bolzano nights keep the acidity up, which is why a 14% Lagrein still tastes fresh.
Plum and blackberry with no sweetness; the Kretzer rosé is drier than most Provence pinks.
Key flavours
The map
Lagrein is full-bodied, firm tannin, mapped against other red grapes you can buy. The closer a grape sits, the more its weight and grip resemble Lagrein.
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Serving guide
Serve at
16-18°C
16 to 18C for the red; too cold and the tannin hardens. The Kretzer rosé wants 10 to 12C.
Decant
30 minutes
Half an hour in a jug for a young red; a Riserva from Gries can take an hour.
Glass
Bordeaux Glass
A wide bowl lets the violet and plum out and softens the grip.
Drink within
3-5 days
Standard Lagrein within three to five years; Kretzer within two.
Cellar
3-10 years
Riserva bottles keep ten years; the tannin softens and the chocolate note comes forward.
On the table
Start with the home-table matches that made the grape, then browse the full cuisine library.
The Bolzano plate
Bread dumplings with speck are the valley's own dish. The salt and smoke of the speck take the edge off Lagrein's tannin and the wine's acidity cuts the butter.
Mountain game
Dark, slow-cooked venison has the depth to match an inky Lagrein; the wine's earthy, plummy side sits inside the sauce rather than fighting it.
The Sunday bottle
Rare beef and gravy want a full red with fresh acidity; Lagrein's grip works on the meat and its freshness stops the plate feeling heavy.
For the earthy side
Porcini bring the same forest-floor note the wine has; a Lagrein with a few years on it makes the pairing feel like one dish.
Browse every pairing
Buy it · three to start with
A curated trio across the price range, then every Lagrein on sale in the UK right now.
Entry · everyday
2 retailers
Trentino
2 retailers
£12.60
Why this one: Cavit's Trentino Lagrein is the soft, early-drinking version from the Adige valley. Plum and spice without the Bolzano grip, in three UK shops at about £15.
The sweet spot
3 retailers
Alto Adige/Südtirol
3 retailers
£17.00
Why this one: Hofstätter's is the classic Alto Adige style: dense, almost black, wild berries and violet over velvety tannin, around £17.
Special occasion
1 retailer
Alto Adige/Südtirol
1 retailer
£34.40
£43.00
Why this one: From Gries itself, the grape's home district: hand-picked, fermented in wood, a year in French barriques and big barrels. The benchmark, about £43.
12 of 52 bottles
4 retailers
Alto Adige/Südtirol
4 retailers
£22.50
3 retailers
Alto Adige/Südtirol
3 retailers
£17.00
3 retailers
Alto Adige/Südtirol
3 retailers
£39.00
£45.00
2 retailers
Trentino
2 retailers
£12.60
2 retailers
Trentino
2 retailers
£13.00
2 retailers
Alto Adige/Südtirol
2 retailers
£16.60
2 retailers
Alto Adige/Südtirol
2 retailers
£17.50
2 retailers
Alto Adige/Südtirol
2 retailers
£18.00
2 retailers
Alto Adige/Südtirol
2 retailers
£18.30
2 retailers
Alto Adige/Südtirol
2 retailers
£20.50
2 retailers
Alto Adige/Südtirol
2 retailers
£35.00
1 retailer
Vigneti delle Dolomiti / Weinberg Dolomiten
1 retailer
£10.95
Denominations
The appellations where Lagrein plays a starring role.
Where it grows
Italy's alpine wine country: Teroldego from the Piana Rotaliana, Trento DOC sparklers raised on dolomitic limestone, and Alto Adige whites perfumed by glacial air.
The terroir
Lagrein is a valley-floor grape. The difference between bottles is how warm the floor is and how long the wine sees oak.
Gries and the Bolzano basin
The city's sandy gravel flats, where the rivers meet
The historic home and warmest site: the deepest, darkest, most structured Lagrein, from the Muri-Gries abbey and Cantina Bolzano.
Terlano to Tramin
The villages south and west of Bolzano
The big cooperatives and estates: Terlano, Andriano, Caldaro, Tramin, Hofstätter, Elena Walch. A touch cooler, more violet and fresher fruit, and most of the Kretzer rosé.
Trentino
The Adige valley slopes south of the province line
Cavit and La Vis, from hills at 250 to 400 metres: softer tannin, plum and spice, ready sooner and cheaper.
Editorial
Lagrein grows on the floor of the Bolzano basin, where the Adige and Isarco valleys meet. The valley floor is deep sand and gravel that soaks up the sun. The district of Gries, now part of the city, is its historic home. The Benedictine monks of Muri-Gries were making it there in the 1500s, and their abbey cellar still does. About 650 hectares are planted, nearly all in Trentino-Alto Adige, with a few rows in Austria, Germany, California and Australia.
Deliciously plummy, earthy and chewy, dark and full-bodied but not heavy, with a pronounced minerally edge.
Eric Asimov, The New York Times, 2011DNA work in 2006 settled its family tree. Lagrein is a natural cross of Schiava Gentile and Teroldego. That makes it a cousin of Syrah and Pinot Nero through Teroldego's side. It has been on Italy's grape register since 1970, and its official description dates from 1960. Medieval documents already name it, and by the late 1400s it appears as Lagreiner.
The grape comes in two colours of wine. Lagrein Dunkel, or Scuro, is the dark red: almost black in the glass, with plum, blackberry and violets. Oak adds a chocolate note. The tannin used to be rough. Since the 1980s growers have shortened the time on the skins and used gentler oak. The modern wines are dark and full without being heavy. Lagrein Kretzer, or Rosato, is the rosé, pressed quickly off the skins: fruity, dry and one of the best pink wines in Italy.
Almost every bottle is Alto Adige DOC, labelled in Italian or German. The best carry a village or a vineyard name: Gries above all. The Riserva wines age two years and keep for ten. In Trentino, to the south, Cavit and La Vis make softer, earlier-drinking versions from the Adige valley slopes. Lagrein also slips into Santa Maddalena, the light Schiava red of the same hills, as a colour-and-grip top-up.
Good to know
Lagrein tastes of plum, blackberry and black cherry with violets, a chocolate note when it has seen oak, and an earthy, stony finish. It is dark, full-bodied and firmly tannic but not heavy, with fresh acidity from the alpine nights. The rosé, Kretzer, is dry and fruity.
From Bolzano in Alto Adige, northern Italy. Its historic home is Gries, a district of the city where Benedictine monks grew it in the 1500s. About 650 hectares are planted, almost all in Trentino-Alto Adige, on the sandy gravel of the valley floor.
Kretzer is the local name for Lagrein rosé, also labelled Lagrein Rosato. The grapes are pressed soon after picking so the wine stays pink: dry, fruity and fresh. It is one of Italy's best rosés and the traditional summer wine of Bolzano.
Distantly. DNA tests show Lagrein is a cross of Schiava Gentile and Teroldego, and Teroldego is related to Syrah and Pinot Noir. So Lagrein is a cousin of Syrah, which fits its dark colour and peppery, plummy style.
A standard Alto Adige Lagrein is best within three to five years. Riserva wines, which age at least two years before release, keep for ten. Serve it at 16 to 18C and give a young bottle half an hour of air.
Cantina Bolzano's Grieser Riserva Prestige is the benchmark from Gries, and Muri-Gries is the abbey that started it all. Hofstätter, Elena Walch, Alois Lageder, Andriano, Tramin and Terlano all make good Lagrein at £15 to £25. Cavit and La Vis cover the Trentino style.
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Jump to the editorial guide for each style this grape turns up in.
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