I love the alpine regions of Italy. I've been lucky to visit a few of them and the scenery is stunning with the background of the dramatic mountain ranges including the Dolomites, Monte Bianco, the Appenines and more. 

Back in early 2015 I visited the Trentino-Alto Adige region for the first time and journeyed from Verona via train to the town of Trento, about an hour due north. I spent a wonderful day there doing what I typically love to do in visiting new towns, strolling around, checking out hidden side streets, piazzas, watching the locals interact, visiting any historical monuments or sites and of course shopping. I wanted to bring home some wines from the region of grapes that I've never tried or wines that I just wasn't too familiar with. 

I found a great local wine shop in town and took the expertise of the store owner whom directed me over to a bottle of Castel San Michele Moscato Rosa made from the Instituto Agrario, which I'm sharing with you today. 

The winery is found in the region of Trentino and is part of the Edmund Mach Foundation Farm named after Austrian Dr. Edmund Mach. that is home to 120 hectacres(about 296 acres). The land is used to grow agricultural crops and vineyards that are used mostly for research and experiments at the agricultural school and research center. 

The winery itself can found inside an ancient 12th century Augustinian monastery, San Michele (hence the name of the wine today). They produce about 30 different types of wines as well as a classic method sparkling wine. The aim of the winery is to share what the terroir of Trento represents.

The 2013 Castel San Michele Moscato Rosa Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT is made from moscato rosa Becchetti land, plated in 1960, and Oberrauch land, planted in 1988. Everything is hand harvested and as I'm sure you'll see from a lot of other bloggers that many grapes of this region are hand harvested due to the steep terrains in which the grapes are grown. Very tedious, hard manual labor. They produce only about 1,500 bottles of this particular wine and it's all produced in stainless steel. Brilliant ruby color with a very aromatic nose of red berries and roses. A fuller bodied wine with a hint of baking spices. Regardless of the sweetness to this wine there was plenty of acidity to create a nice balance. The Institute recommends pairing it with forest fruits and berry pies and I'd even recommend some chocolate dishes.