At the end of World War I, France and Italy were enriched by new territories wrenched from the defeated Austro-German alliance. France gained Alsace on its eastern border and Italy acquired the Tyrolean region known as the Südtirol, or as it is more commonly known today, the Alto Adige, along its northern boundary. The Adige River flows through the Südtirol and eventually winds past the heart of old Verona farther south. Both Alsace and the Alto Adige retain strong remnants of a German-speaking culture, and both are notable wine-producing provinces.

A route du vin runs south from Strasbourg past the most renowned vineyards of Alsace and, similarly, a strada del vino threads southward from Bolzano through hillsides in the foothills of the Dolomite Mountains that hedge the Alto Adige. Both of these wine roads are surrounded by some of the most scenic wine country found anywhere, with the Alto Adige dotted by pretty flower-decked Tyrolean villages.

The fact that many of the same varieties are cultivated in each area leads to inevitable comparisons, most especially in the case of pinot bianco (pinot blanc) and traminer aromatico (gewürztraminer). The latter seems to have originated near the town of Traminer (Terlano in Italian) in the Alto Adige and is noted for its intense aromatic qualities. Both varieties are vinified into memorable wines. The similarities, however, end here.

The Alsatian wines possess more earthy aromas and a denser structure than their Italian counterparts. The Italian Pinot Bianco, on the other hand, has more pronounced peach and floral scents than Alsatian Pinot Blanc, and though Traminer Aromatico shares some of the rose petal and geranium flavors of Gewürztraminer from Alsace, it is generally less unctuous. With every rule there is an exception, of course, and occasionally one finds a Pinot Bianco or Traminer Aromatico from the Alto Adige that could easily be confused with an Alsatian cousin.

Whereas Alsace has long enjoyed recognition as one of the world's distinguished winegrowing regions, the Alto Adige did not attain an equivalent status until very recently, and it still remains a virtual terra incognita for many wine lovers, even among aficionados of Italian wine. Part of the reason for its relative obscurity is that this region was long seen primarily as a source of genial but undistinguished quaffing wines to the citizens of German-speaking nations to the north, hardly a recommendation to the world's premium wine drinkers. Fortunately, this perception began to change not long ago, due in large part to the coterie of talented producers who have emerged to elevate the quality of the region's wines.

It is significant that the leading critical guide to Italian wine, Vini d'Italia, has been including an ever-increasing number of Alto Adige white and red wines in its prestigious annual roster of Italy's top bottlings.

The acknowledged pacesetter for the rising fortunes of the Alto Adige is Alois Lageder of Bolzano, whose winemaking practices have established benchmarks for other producers in the region. Although he is known for an impressive portfolio of fine wines, his principal contribution may well be his role as an effective spokesman for the enormous potential of the Alto Adige's wines. His past examples of winemaking grabbed the attention of critics in Italy and abroad. Even before Lageder became well recognized, however, a few other producers had already quietly proved that great wines could be made here. One such producer was the idiosyncratic Giorgio Grai, whose difficult-to-find wines were eagerly sought by collectors a couple of decades ago. I recall a 20-year-old Pinot Bianco, still quite fresh, that was remarkable for its complexity of aromas, while Grai's Cabernets were among the most thrilling wines made in Italy at that time.

Today some of the best wines in the Alto Adige are being made at about a dozen cooperatives that funnel carefully monitored crops from many small landowners into a single facility. A handful of these cooperatives are among the leading producers in the area. Two examples are the Cantina Produttori Colterenzio, whose Cabernet Sauvignon called Lafoa (imported by Selected Estates of Europe) consistently earns top honors in the Gambero Rosso guide, and the Cantina Produttori San Michele, whose Sauvignon Blanc is, to my mind, one of the very best to be had anywhere (imported by Martin Scott wines).

Unfortunately, many of the region's outstanding wines are not currently imported in to the United States, and those that are, including the two mentioned above, are in very limited distribution. There is, however, a quartet of small, independent producers who have informally banded together to increase their presence here. Imported by Vinissimo Estate Selections, one of them, Baron Widmann, makes a striking Cabernet called Feld, and the others, Kuen Hof, Ignaz Niedrist and Franz Gojer, also produce arresting wines that are well worth seeking, though they are not easy to find. For this reason, I'll comment only on those that are more generally available.

Although Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir) from the Alto Adige is in limited production and not yet well-known, it is already true that the best wines from this grape are unmatched anywhere else in Italy. Try the remarkable Sant'Urbano Pinot Nero from the firm of Hofstätter, for example, to taste just how good Pinot Noir can be.

The grape that is causing the greatest stir, however, is the indigenous lagrein, which has been grown mostly in monastery plots since the Middle Ages. Until recently, it was used largely as a grape to be blended with other minor varieties for the production of pleasant but unexciting red table wines and lighter rosés. Now, a number of estates have taken up the challenge of producing great wine from this once humble grape, and the results are increasingly gratifying. Hofstätter, for example, makes a richly structured wine from lagrein, whose scents of raspberry and Indian spices are quite exotic. It is actually called Lagrein Scuro (Lagrein Dunkel in German), meaning that it is vinified as a red wine and not as a rosé (imported by Vinifera Imports).

Before moving on, it should be said that the largest portion of the region's red wine production is with various clones of the native schiava grape, which generally make eminently drinkable medium-bodied and aromatic wines. Noteworthy among these is Santa Maddalena, from grapes grown in select sites around the town of Bolzano, a graceful wine that occasionally rises above the ordinary. During Italy's fascist era, a commission was appointed to judge the country's best wines and, in 1941, they placed Santa Maddalena in the front rank alongside Barolo and Barbaresco. Considering the high esteem that the latter two wines generally enjoy, and the relative obscurity of Santa Maddalena today, this represents a jarring change in taste.

Among the white wines, some of the most compelling Pinot Biancos and Traminer Aromaticos hail from Hofstätter under the names Barthenau and Kolbenhof, respectively - each are superb prototypes of these varieties. There are two lesser-known grapes in the Alto Adige that make alluring wines with intriguing aromas even if they rarely scale the heights attained by pinot bianco, traminer aromatico and sauvignon blanc. These are the grapes called sylvaner and müller-thurgau. The first of which makes very refreshing wines with distinct apple and peach notes and with a riesling-like character, while müller-thurgau, a hybrid grape, produces a smoky wine with distinct herbal flavors of great delicacy. Some of the very best of both wines come from the 12th-century Abbazia di Novacella, an abbey nestled in the northern reaches of the province near the Austrian border (imported by Vias). The notable firm of Tiefenbrunner also makes a Müller-Thurgau of great finesse called Feldmarschall von Fenner (imported by Winebow).

Other noteworthy white grapes from Alto Adige are pinot grigio, perhaps the variety that is most widely recognized by American consumers (again, very distinct in character from Alsatian pinot gris) and, on a much smaller scale, grüner veltliner, a grape that now plays a starring role in Austria's viticulture. Though wines from pinot grigio can be excellent (Lageder and, again Hofstätter, both make fine versions), they are rarely capable of competing for attention with the superb white wines that this region is now routinely producing from pinot bianco, traminer aromatico and sauvignon blanc. The current high regard for the Alto Adige can be credited to these three varieties, together with the exceptional bottles produced from cabernet sauvignon and lagrein scuro.

The recent vintages of 1996, 1997 and, so it appears, 1998 are all excellent in the Alto Adige and are currently (or will soon be) available in the marketplace with, I expect, more producers making their U.S. debut.

Immediately south of the Alto Adige is the Trentino, another vast wine-producing province and, just south of the Trentino, the environs of Verona. By autostrada it takes a mere hour to traverse the distances from Verona to the Alto Adige, but what a difference those few kilometers make. The Verona end is quintessentially Italian in demeanor, while the Tyrolean province of Alto Adige maintains an attitude of being an outpost of the Austro-Hungarian empire that it once was. The foods, such as speck and nockerl, are also quite different from what is usually thought of as Italian fare, and, when paired with the native wines, provide a genuine surprise and delight to first-time visitors to this lovely region of Italy.

Contributing Editor Edward Beltrami writes regularly on Italian wine, and occasionally ventures into the vineyards of France and Long Island.