Instructional Nature and Wine Trail

The “Gschleier Path” is a loop trail around a vineyard of the same name. The Gschleier vineyard was first registered in the Theresian Tax Cadaster in 1776 as one of six vineyards protected by watchmen called Saltners. The Instructional Nature and Wine Trail is located on private property: We kindly ask all visitors to respect the property of the farmers and keep the trail clean.

The Saltners were watchmen who were in charge of protecting the ripening grapes in the vineyards against birds and thieves up until the 1950s. For deterrence, some of them carried weapons and wore intimidating clothes as well as hats adorned with feathers. Only children and pregnant women were allowed to snack on the ripe grapes. Traditionally, Saltners were young, unmarried men and used to live on the vineyard premises all summer long until the harvest was in. They received a fair amount of money for their services. In the early days, the Saltners were paid by local governments. Later the winegrowers themselves were responsible for remuneration.

Vineyards boast remarkable biodiversity. Life abounds inside the hedges and drywalls hustling and bustling with beneficial organisms, insects, lizards, hedgehogs, and birds. The plants growing in between the rows are valuable habitats and sources of food, and the flowering plants located at the beginning of each row offer a lavish feast for the bees.

Important beneficial fauna:

• During their larval stage, ladybugs consume up to 400 aphids.
• Predatory bugs use their strong proboscis to feed on spider mites, aphids, and other small organisms.
• Predatory mites eat the European red mite and other destructive mites and larvae.

Winter: The grapevines are cut down to very few buds. When pruning vines, it is imperative to exercise great care to prevent improper cuts and only remove one- or, at most, two-year-old wood, but never cut into older, established wood.

Spring: The fruit shoots are bound to the trellis wires. Shoot thinning helps boost vigor by removing all shoots that are either too weak or too close together.

Summer: Fast-growing shoots are stuck between the wires and capped, if necessary. Dense foliage near grapes is removed to allow for better exposure to sunlight and airflow. During thinning, winegrowers also remove excess grape bunches. Controlled yield management ensures the highest attainable quality of grapes and wine.

Fall: Warm days and cool nights provide a perfect balance of sugar and acidity, resulting in a high quality. As ripening times vary for the different grapes, harvest season lasts from mid-August to mid-October.

Encompassing a surface area of app. 1000 hectares, Appiano is Alto Adige’s largest wine-growing municipality with a long and rich history: Wine has been cultivated here for more than 2,000 years. In the 8th century, most vineyards in Alto Adige were operated by Bavarian and Swabian monasteries. Later, under Habsburg rule, viticulture in Alto Adige flourished: Varieties such as Riesling and Pinot were introduced to the Appiano vineyards. In the 1980s, winegrowers in Appiano started following the principle of “quality over quantity,” producing wines of exceptional quality.

Thanks to their extensive and deep-reaching root system, grapevines are fairly resistant to droughts. Significant drought stress may result in lower wine quality, however. Average precipitation in Appiano amounts to 800 mm per year. Drip irrigation systems ensure an adequate water supply for the vineyards during longer periods without rainfall in summer while consuming relatively little water.

In the Alps, the effects of climate change manifest especially clearly, resulting in increased amounts of precipitation in winter and hotter and drier summers. Global warming necessitates adapting grape varieties to the vineyard sites, leading to a gradual shift towards higher altitudes. In Alto Adige, some vineyards are located as high as at 1,000 m above sea level.

In the 1860s, the American grape phylloxera was introduced to Europe. This dangerous pest attacks the roots of the vines, thus threatening the very existence of many winegrowers. A solution to the problem came from the pests’s home country: Some American vines had proved resistant to phylloxera. However, the quality of the wines produced from the American grape varieties was considerably lower than that produced from their European counterparts. Around 1900, researchers demonstrated ingenuity by grafting the scions of European vines onto the rootstock of the American grapevines. As phylloxera mainly attacks the roots of European varieties, grafting rendered the vines resistant to the pest while maintaining the high quality of the European varieties. This type of grafting method, which can be identified by a slightly thicker area on the vine close to the soil, is still common nowadays and an early example of biological pest control in viticulture.

Most of the soil in Appiano was deposited by glaciers. Appiano used to be the historical meeting point of the Adige and Isarco glaciers, which left behind significant moraines composed of gravel and sand, defining Appiano’s soil type to this day. The slopes along the Mendola mountains also contain debris from Dolomitic limestone. 

The right soil is a fundamental prerequisite for a high quality of grapes and wines. While substantial soil depth is favorable, soils fostering excessive vine growth are undesirable. Shoot and leaf growth should be completed very early to allow for the best possible supply of the grapes.

Whereas in the past the soil was either mechanically tilled or treated with herbicides, today the landscape is characterized by spontaneous permanent vegetation. One of the disadvantages of this practice is the reduced availability of fertile soil in deeper soil layers. Sowing deeper-rooting plants such as rye and winter vetch in fall improves soil fertility and boosts the water and nutrient retention capacities of the soils.

Until the 1990s, pergola training systems were the most common form of vine cultivation in Alto Adige. In a pergola system, the grapes hang down from a canopy, which protects them from direct sunlight. But the system also comes with disadvantages: The moist and warm climate under the canopy fosters the proliferation of pests and diseases.

Over the last decades, the “Guyot system” (a trellistrellis training system), the most commonly used system on a global level employing a framework of wires as support for the growing vines, has become prevalent in Alto Adige as well. The grapes grow at the base of the annual shoots in hanging clusters, which allow for optimum airflow and make the grapes less prone to disease. Trellis systems are defined by narrower vine spacing and lower yields, which produce especially favorable wine qualities.

In the late 19th century, Alto Adige’s small, independent winegrowers faced a struggle for survival. Pests including the American grape phylloxera and financial strain caused by high taxes and tariffs in the wine trade threatened their very existence and presented a challenge too difficult to overcome on their own.

In 1893, the first wine cooperative was founded. More were soon to follow: In the modern day and age, there is a total of 12 cooperatives, accounting for almost three quarters of the total wine produced in Alto Adige. While the winegrowers focus on cultivation, the cooperatives take care of producing quality wines, marketing and sales.

However, during the last two decades, the number of independent winegrowers has again grown considerably. Many young entrepreneurs now decide to press their own wine and market their wines under their own name or the name of their vineyards. Appiano is home to four cooperatives and more than 20four cooperatives and more than 20 wineries and private cantinas as well as several producerswineries and private cantinas as well as several producers of sparkling wines and small-scale distilleries.of sparkling wines and small-scale distilleries.

White and red varieties are cultivated right next to each other. But why? The majority of the Appiano vineyards is situated at moderate altitudes of between 400 and 550 m above sea level, which means that they are perfectly suitable for both red and white varieties. Red wines take longer to ripen, so warmer locations are more favorable for them. White wines ripen earlier and prefer colder temperatures, which allow for higher acidity, a desired quality for tangy whites. In white wine production, the grapes are pressed for juice, which is then fermented, while in red wine production, the red grapes are fermented as a mash, i. e., fermented with the skins and stems. Colorants and tannins are released from the skins during this process.

Approx. 20 different varieties are cultivated in Appiano.

White wines account for two thirds of total production. The main varieties include Pinot Blanc, Sauvignon, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay, and Pinot Grigio.

Red wines, in particular Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Cabernet as well as the indigenous varieties Schiava (Vernatsch) and Lagrein, represent the remaining third.

Autochthonous varieties: The autochthonous grape varieties Schiava and Lagrein have been cultivated in Alto Adige for centuries. As with many other varieties, however, there is no definitive evidence as to their exact origin.

Organic viticulture avoids the use of chemical-synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides. However, in Alto Adige, most conventional winegrowers utilize organic fertilizers, too.