White Grape · Trentino-Alto Adige

Riesling

Riesling is the Rhine's great white grape living a second life in the Italian Alps: bone dry, lime-sharp and stony in Alto Adige and Trentino, riper in the Langhe, and sparkling in the Oltrepo Pavese.

Riesling is a white grape from Germany's Rhine that has made a second home in Italy's mountains. Here it is nearly always dry. Expect taut, lime-and-stone whites from Alto Adige's Valle Isarco and Val Venosta, from Trentino and from the Langhe hills of Piedmont. In Lombardy's Oltrepo Pavese it also goes into sparkling wine.

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Denominations

Clearing it up

One name, two different wines

vs
This is the grape

Riesling (Riesling Renano)

The Rhine grape, grown in Italy's mountains

  • From Alto Adige and the LangheCold valleys, steep slopes, slow ripening.
  • Sharp, stony, built to ageLime and green apple now; honey and petrol in ten years.
  • About 450 hectaresRare in Italy, and 15 to 30 pounds a bottle.
Not this

Riesling Italico

A different grape, Welschriesling, from central Europe

  • From the Oltrepo Pavese and VenetoWarmer plains and low hills; about 1,600 hectares.
  • Soft, simple, drink youngA neutral everyday white, often blended or made fizzy.
  • Not related at allDNA puts it nowhere near true Riesling; the name is the only link.

The anchor fact: Riesling and Riesling Italico are two unrelated grapes that share a name. True Riesling, called Riesling Renano on the Italian register, comes from the Rhine; Riesling Italico is the central European Welschriesling, and Italy grows three times more of it.

Taste · Where it sits

What it’s actually like in the glass

Forget scores out of five. Here’s Riesling described against grapes you already know.

BodyFeatherlight, taut
FeatherlightFull-bodied

Lighter than Pinot Bianco and far leaner than a Friulano; Alto Adige Riesling carries its flavour on acidity, not weight, and even the riper Langhe bottles stay slim.

TanninNone to speak of
NoneGrippy

A steel-fermented white with no skin contact, so there is no grip at all; what people read as bite in Riesling is acidity and stone, not tannin, unlike Vermentino's almond tug.

AcidityThe sharpest white in Italy
SoftRacy

Higher than Verdicchio, higher than Sauvignon Blanc; the cold Valle Isarco nights lock in a lime-juice acidity that keeps the wine alive for a decade and is the reason it takes on chilli food.

Fruit & sweetnessBone dry, lime and green apple
Bone drySweet

Italy makes Riesling drier than Germany does: fermented right out, so the lime, green apple and white peach read as fruit, never sugar, with honey arriving only with age.

Key flavours

Lime
The signature: a squeeze of fresh lime that Alto Adige's cold nights lock in, sharper than the lemon of a Verdicchio and without Vermentino's bitter-almond tail.
Green Apple
Crunchy green apple from grapes picked ripe but never overripe on the Valle Isarco terraces; in the warmer Langhe it softens towards yellow apple.
White peach
The fruit that shows Riesling has fully ripened, most obvious in the Val Venosta and in Langhe bottles such as Germano's Herzu, where the wine gains a little flesh.
Apple blossom
A light floral lift, blossom rather than the heady rose of Gewurztraminer, its Alto Adige neighbour; it fades after two or three years as the mineral notes take over.
Wet stones
The wet-slate, stony finish that Riesling picks up on the quartz and porphyry soils of the Valle Isarco; it is what makes the wine taste cold even at room temperature.
Petrol/kerosene
The famous petrol note, a compound the grape forms as it ages in bottle; a whiff in a five-year-old Novacella or Falkenstein is a sign of maturity, not a fault.
Honey
Not sweetness but a honeyed, beeswax richness that arrives after five years or so as the lime fades; in Italy only the top Alto Adige bottles get there.
Racy · Crisp Round · Soft Light-bodied Bold · Full Chardonnay Glera Pinot Grigio Sauvignon Blanc Vermentino Pinot Bianco
Riesling

The map

Riesling is light to medium, racy, high acidity, mapped against other white grapes you can buy. The closer a grape sits, the more its weight and freshness resemble Riesling.

Rieslinglight to medium, racy, high acidity
Chardonnayfuller, far rounder
Glerarounder
Pinot Grigiorounder
Sauvignon Blanca close match
Vermentinorounder
Pinot Biancofar rounder

Is this for you?

An honest gut-check

Reach for it when…

A bold red that just works

  • You want a bone-dry white with real acidity for fried fish, smoked trout or a Thai curry.
  • You like the idea of German Riesling but want it dry, Italian and under 25 pounds.
  • You want a white that can sit in the cellar for a decade.

Maybe skip it if…

You’re after something else tonight

  • You want a soft, round white to sip on its own; try Pinot Bianco or a Friulano instead.
  • You are expecting the off-dry, floral German style; Italian Riesling is drier and steelier.

Serving guide

Pour it at its best

Serve at

8-10°C

Serve at 8 to 10C: colder and the lime and blossom disappear, warmer and the acidity turns sharp instead of refreshing.

Decant

No

Never decant; Riesling's delicate lime and blossom aromas blow off in air, and a cold bottle opened at the table is all it needs.

Glass

Riesling Glass

A narrow Riesling glass, or any slim white-wine glass, keeps the aromas focused and the wine cold; a big Chardonnay bowl lets it warm up and go flat.

Drink within

3-5 days

Drink the everyday bottles within three to five years for the lime and green apple; older than that and they trade fruit for honey and stone.

Cellar

2-10 years

The top Valle Isarco and Val Venosta wines keep for ten years; lie them down cold and open one every couple of years to watch the petrol note arrive.

On the table

What to eat with Riesling

Start with the home-table matches that made the grape, then browse the full cuisine library.

Canederli

The Alto Adige home match

Canederli

Bread dumplings with speck are what the Valle Isarco eats with its Riesling; the wine's lime acidity cuts the smoked pork fat and the stony finish keeps the plate from feeling heavy.
Scottish Smoked Salmon

Smoke meets stone

Scottish Smoked Salmon

Riesling's high acid and mineral edge do for smoked salmon what a squeeze of lemon does, without the oak that makes a Chardonnay fight the smoke.
Chicken pad thai

The chilli exception

Chicken pad thai

Few Italian whites survive chilli and lime; bone-dry Alto Adige Riesling does, because its own lime and faint peach match the sauce and its acidity resets the palate.
Vitello Tonnato

The Langhe table

Vitello Tonnato

A riper Langhe Riesling from Germano or Oddero has the weight for cold veal and the acidity to lift a tuna-and-caper mayonnaise, the way Piedmont pairs it at home.

Browse every pairing

Thai Thai
Curries 1 Noodles 1 Stir-fries 1
Indian Indian
Vegetarian 2
Chinese Chinese
Meats 1

Buy it · three to start with

Not sure which bottle? Start here

A curated trio across the price range, then every Riesling on sale in the UK right now.

Entry · everyday

Riesling Alto Adige Valle Isarco DOC Valle Isarco

Riesling Alto Adige Valle Isarco DOC Valle Isarco

Alto Adige/Südtirol

2 retailers

£16.50

View Wine

Why this one: The Valle Isarco co-op is the door into Italian Riesling: lime, green apple and wet stone, bone dry, for the price of a supermarket Sauvignon.

The sweet spot

Südtirol - Alto Adige Valle Isarco DOC Riesling Abbazia di Novacella

Südtirol - Alto Adige Valle Isarco DOC Riesling Abbazia di Novacella

Alto Adige/Südtirol

2 retailers

£17.20

View Wine

Why this one: The abbey at Novacella has grown vines since 1142; its Riesling is the Valle Isarco benchmark, a shade richer than the co-op wine and still under twenty pounds.

Special occasion

Südtirol - Alto Adige Val Venosta Riesling DOC Falkenstein

Südtirol - Alto Adige Val Venosta Riesling DOC Falkenstein

Alto Adige/Südtirol

1 retailer

£27.50

View Wine

Why this one: Franz Pratzner's Falkenstein is the Italian Riesling collectors argue over: steep Val Venosta terraces, big old casks, and a wine that needs five years and rewards ten.

12 of 44 bottles

Denominations

Where it earns a name on the label

The appellations where Riesling plays a starring role.

Alto Adige/SüdtirolDOC LangheDOC PugliaIGT SalentoIGT TrentinoDOC UmbriaIGT Vigneti delle Dolomiti / Weinberg DolomitenIGT

Where it grows

The places it calls home

Trentino-Alto Adige

Italy's alpine wine country: Teroldego from the Piana Rotaliana, Trento DOC sparklers raised on dolomitic limestone, and Alto Adige whites perfumed by glacial Read more

850 wines · 12 denominations

Piedmont

From Barolo's tannic spine to Asti's gentle fizz, Piedmont turns Nebbiolo, Barbera, Moscato, and Cortese into Italy's most cru-mapped wine country. Read more

1872 wines · 62 denominations

Lombardy

From Franciacorta classic-method bubbles to Valtellina mountain Nebbiolo and Lugana lake-cool whites, Lombardy spans 5 DOCGs across roughly 25,000 hectares of Read more

541 wines · 43 denominations

Friuli Venezia Giulia

Italy's white-wine heartland, where Friulano, Ribolla Gialla and skin-contact orange wines meet alpine air, Adriatic light and the cooking of San Daniele and Read more

674 wines · 18 denominations

The terroir

Riesling is a thermometer. In the cold Valle Isarco it is all lime and stone; in the warmer Langhe it gains flesh; on the Oltrepo hills it becomes the base for sparkling wine.

Valle Isarco and Val Venosta

Alto Adige's coldest valleys

Bone dry, lime, wet stone; the age-worthy benchmark.

Langhe

High, cool plots in Barolo country

Riper, rounder, white peach; drinks well young.

Oltrepo Pavese

Lombardy's rolling hills south of Pavia

Still and sparkling; check Renano versus Italico on the label.

Producers

The estates that make it

9 estates on the site work with Riesling. Eight at a time, and the line-up changes every week.

Planeta Est. 1995
Sicily · Menfi

Planeta

Planeta is one of Sicily's most influential wine families. Farm records place the family on the island from 1694, and the modern wine project began at the Ulmo estate near Menfi in 1995. The linked bottle range currently centres on Sicilia DOC, Etna DOC and Menfi DOC, with grapes such as Nero d'Avola, Carricante and Chardonnay.

47wines From £12.50
Marchesi Antinori Est. 1385
Tuscany · Firenze

Marchesi Antinori

Spanning 26 generations since 1385, Marchesi Antinori is the oldest continuously family-run wine business in Italy. Its nine estates make Chianti Classico, Bolgheri reds and the Super Tuscans Tignanello and Solaia.

38wines From £11.60
Lis Neris
Friuli Venezia Giulia · San Lorenzo

Lis Neris

The Pecorari family's estate on the Isonzo gravel plain, farmed since 1879. Alvaro Pecorari turned the cellar toward single-vineyard whites in the 1980s: Gris (Pinot Grigio), Picol (Sauvignon Blanc), Jurosa (Chardonnay) and La Vila (Friulano) under Friuli Isonzo DOC, with the Venezia Giulia IGT blends Lis, Confini and the Tal Luc passito above them. A four-suite Wine Relais and three set tastings make it a working base for visiting Collio and eastern Friuli.

10wines From £18
Alois Lageder
Trentino-Alto Adige · Magrè

Alois Lageder

Family estate at the southern tip of Alto Adige, farmed biodynamically since 2004, with about sixty partner growers now farming organically too. The cellars at Magrè run the Vineria wine shop, the organic Osteria Paradeis and the SUMMA wine fair each spring.

30wines From £13.90
Pojer & Sandri Est. 1975
Trentino-Alto Adige · Faedo

Pojer & Sandri

Founded in Faedo in 1975 by Mario Pojer and Fiorentino Sandri, this Trentino estate works three vineyard zones: porphyry slopes around Faedo, the heroic terraces of Val di Cembra, and the PIWI plantings of Grumes that anchor the Zero Infinito natural wine project. Müller-Thurgau Palai is the signature white and Faye is the structured Cabernet and Merlot red. Nosiola, Riesling and Pinot Nero round out the range, alongside a distillery and vinegar line at the same Loc. Molini cellar near San Michele all'Adige.

13wines From £15.50
Azienda Agricola Serracavallo
Calabria · Bisignano

Azienda Agricola Serracavallo

Family estate at nearly 600 metres above Bisignano in northern Calabria, farming about 42 football pitches of vines on granite and sand. Native Magliocco Dolce and Pecorello lead, with Terraccia the flagship red and Filovento the white. The estate also grows olives and figs, runs vineyard visits and tastings, and has a five-room guesthouse.

0wines
Castello della Sala Est. 1940
Umbria · Ficulle

Castello della Sala

Castello della Sala is Antinori's Umbrian estate near Ficulle, built around a 14th century fortress. It is known for Cervaro della Sala, Muffato della Sala and Pinot Nero della Sala. The listed bottles centre on Umbria IGT, with grapes such as Chardonnay, Grechetto and Sauvignon Blanc.

10wines From £17.50
Cantina Tramin
Trentino-Alto Adige · Termeno

Cantina Tramin

A 160-family cooperative founded in 1898 in Termeno, the Alto Adige village that gave Gewürztraminer its name. Long-time winemaker Willi Stürz leads a range topped by Nussbaumer, Stoan, Troy Chardonnay Riserva and Epokale, the Gewürztraminer that earned 100 Wine Advocate points with its 2009 vintage.

33wines From £13.50

Editorial

About Riesling

Riesling comes from the Rhine. Its pedigree, confirmed by DNA markers in the VIVC vine database, has one parent, Heunisch Weiss, and one still unknown. It reached Italy in the nineteenth century and joined the national grape register in 1970 as Riesling Renano. Italy grows only about 450 hectares of it. Riesling Italico, an unrelated grape that shares the name, covers 1,600.

Italy grows about 450 hectares of true Riesling and three times as much of Riesling Italico, an unrelated grape that simply borrowed the name.

The national grape register, entries 209 and 210

Its Italian heartland is Alto Adige, in the far north of Trentino-Alto Adige. The Valle Isarco north of Bolzano and the Val Venosta towards the Swiss border are cold, steep and dry. Riesling ripens there slowly and keeps the acidity that gives it its shape. Abbazia di Novacella, Cantina Valle Isarco and Falkenstein in the Val Venosta set the standard. In Trentino, Pojer e Sandri and the Cembra co-op follow suit. The wines are bone dry, lime and green apple with a stony finish. The best keep for a decade and pick up the honey and petrol note that old Riesling is known for.

In the Langhe, Nebbiolo country, a handful of Barolo estates grow Riesling on cooler, higher plots. Ettore Germano's Herzu leads, with bottles from Ca' del Baio, Oddero and Fontanafredda, all riper and rounder than the alpine versions. In Lombardy's Oltrepo Pavese it has been grown since the 1800s, as a still white and as the base for traditional-method sparkling wine such as Calatroni's Inganno. In Friuli, Jermann and Lis Neris make a richer, fuller style.

Muller-Thurgau, a cross of Riesling and Madeleine Royale according to the register, is the everyday white of the Valle Isarco, without the parent's cut or its ability to age. True Riesling is pale straw, all lime, grapefruit and white peach, with a stony, almost salty finish; Italian producers ferment it in steel and bottle it dry.

Good to know

Frequently asked

Dry, almost without exception. Alto Adige, Trentino, Langhe and Oltrepo Pavese Riesling is fermented right out and bottled dry, unlike the off-dry German styles many people expect. The rare sweet versions are late-harvest wines, and the label says Vendemmia Tardiva or Passito.

Lime, grapefruit and green apple, with white peach, white flowers and a stony, almost salty finish. It is light in body, bone dry and very high in acidity. After five years or more, the best Alto Adige bottles add honey, beeswax and the famous petrol note, which is a sign of age, not a fault.

Mostly in the mountains. Alto Adige, above all the Valle Isarco and Val Venosta, is the heartland, with Trentino next door. The Langhe in Piedmont has a small but serious pocket, and Lombardy's Oltrepo Pavese has grown it since the 1800s. Friuli, Garda and even Etna have a few rows. Italy has only about 450 hectares in total.

Longer than most Italian whites. Drink the everyday Alto Adige and Trentino bottles within three to five years for the lime and green apple. The top Valle Isarco and Val Venosta wines, from Abbazia di Novacella, Falkenstein or Cantina Valle Isarco, keep for ten years and gain honey and petrol notes. Serve at 8 to 10C and never decant.

Anything smoked, fried or spicy. In Alto Adige it is poured with canederli, speck and smoked trout. Its acidity cuts fried fish and prawn tempura. It is also one of the few Italian whites that stands up to chilli, so pad thai and a Thai green curry both work. Try a Langhe Riesling with vitello tonnato.

Start with Cantina Valle Isarco or Abbazia di Novacella from Alto Adige, both under 20 pounds. Falkenstein in the Val Venosta is the connoisseur's bottle at around 25 pounds. For a different style try Ettore Germano's Herzu from the Langhe, or Calatroni's Inganno, a traditional-method sparkling Riesling from the Oltrepo Pavese.

Prosecco is a sparkling wine from the Veneto made from the Glera grape, usually a touch off-dry. Riesling is a grape, and in Italy it makes mostly still, bone-dry whites in the mountains. The two meet only in the Oltrepo Pavese, where Riesling is sometimes made sparkling by the traditional method, the way Franciacorta is.

Explore by style

Wine styles made from Riesling

Jump to the editorial guide for each style this grape turns up in.

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More white grapes