Cantina Tramin

About

Most people know Gewürztraminer long before they know Tramin. The grape appears on wine lists from New York to Tokyo, yet its name leads back to this small South Tyrolean village surrounded by vineyards, apple orchards and mountain slopes. That alone makes Cantina Tramin worth a stop. There is something pleasantly unexpected about arriving here. One of Italy's most respected wineries does not hide behind a historic façade or a romantic stone cellar. Instead, a striking contemporary building designed by South Tyrolean architect Werner Tscholl rises above the vines. Wrapped in a lattice of folded metal inspired by grape clusters, it looks almost closer to a museum than a winery. The contrast feels perfectly at home in a cooperative founded in 1898 that has spent much of its existence challenging expectations. Around 160 local winegrowing families contribute grapes from vineyards scattered across the surrounding hills. Some plots sit so high and steep that harvesting remains stubbornly manual. Looking across the valley, with the Dolomites in the distance and warm air drifting north from Lake Garda, it becomes clear why this corner of Italy produces wines unlike anywhere else. The stories become even better once the bottles are opened. Cantina Tramin's flagship wine, Epokale, spends years ageing inside a former mine tunnel high in the mountains. In 2018 it became the first Italian white wine to receive a perfect score from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, a distinction that caused plenty of raised eyebrows in a country better known for its reds. Yet the wine is only part of the appeal. What stays with you is the combination of old vineyards, ambitious architecture and the quiet realization that one of the world's most famous grape varieties owes its name to a village many travellers have never heard of. Some discoveries are hiding in plain sight.