Cortina sulla Strada del Vino
Cortina sulla Strada del Vino, known in German as Kurtinig an der Weinstraße, is a small municipality in the Bassa Atesina (Unterl...
Updated 18 July 2026
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The story
The story of Cortina sulla Strada del Vino
Cortina sulla Strada del Vino in the Bassa Atesina
Cortina sulla Strada del Vino, in German Kurtinig an der Weinstraße, lies in the Bassa Atesina, the southernmost part of the province of Bolzano, along the valley floor carved by the Adige between Bolzano and the border with Trentino. The municipal territory, covering barely two square kilometres, borders Magrè sulla Strada del Vino, Egna and Salorno, the last South Tyrolean municipality before the Salorno Pass and the crossing into Trentino territory. Its position places it at the southern end of the South Tyrolean Wine Route, the wine-tourism itinerary inaugurated in 1964 that links fifteen municipalities between Nalles and this strip of plain, running for about seventy kilometres through more than four thousand two hundred hectares of vineyards, equal to eighty-four per cent of the region's vine-growing surface. Despite its small size, Cortina is therefore a significant piece of one of Italy's best-known wine routes, an almost obligatory point of passage for anyone travelling up or down the Adige valley between Bolzano and Trento.
Winemaking and the Wines of Cortina
Almost the entire municipal territory of Cortina sulla Strada del Vino, apart from the small built-up centre, is covered with vineyards: the flat valley floor, with a difference of only a few metres between its highest and lowest points, offers ideal conditions for intensive viticulture, favoured by the mild microclimate typical of the warmest stretch of the Bassa Atesina. As in the rest of the South Tyrolean Wine Route, production is split between red grape varieties, about two thirds of the surface, and white ones for the remaining third: among the reds, Schiava, Lagrein, Pinot Nero and international varieties such as Cabernet and Merlot prevail, while the whites include Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and Riesling. Although it does not host large wineries of its own, given the small size of its territory, Cortina is fully part of the wine-growing district served by the cooperatives and estates of the nearby Cortaccia and Magrè area, and its rows of vines, visible from every corner of the village, are an integral part of the Wine Route landscape.
The Small Village and its Heritage
The name Cortina comes from the Latin curtis, meaning a fortified courtyard or farmstead, and is documented as early as 1276 in the form Cortinegum. The small settlement, with no hamlets, has remained over the centuries a single compact nucleus gathered around the parish church of San Martino Vescovo, built in the fifteenth century and enlarged in 1899, which preserves the community's religious memory dedicated to its patron saint, Martin of Tours. The municipal coat of arms tells its own version of the village's history: a silver embattled wall on a red field symbolises protection from the flooding of the Adige, while the eight-pointed star and crescent moon recall the ancient rule of the Lords of Appiano over the territory. Next to the church and the town hall, the multipurpose hall Haus Curtinie today hosts local events and gatherings, in a village that, though tiny, keeps alive a civic identity distinct from that of its larger neighbours.
The Landscape on the Adige, Between Plain and Vineyards
The landscape of Cortina sulla Strada del Vino is, unusually for South Tyrol, that of an almost perfectly flat plain: the municipal territory lies entirely on the valley floor of the Adige, with an overall elevation difference of just four metres, a rare case among the municipalities of the province of Bolzano, where mountains are almost always the main feature. Here, instead, what dominates are neat rows of vines, irrigation channels crossing the fields, and an open horizon toward the vine-covered slopes of Magrè and Cortaccia on one side and the first hills of Trentino on the other. The village is crossed by the Wine Route and skirted by the Adige Valley cycle path, part of the route linking the Brenner Pass to Salorno along the course of the river: a flat, shaded route, ideal for exploring the Bassa Atesina by bike without facing any climbs, alternating stretches along the riverbank, small bridges over the canals and glimpses of vineyards stretching all the way to the Trentino border.
Border History, Bilingualism and Experiences
The recent history of Cortina is marked by its border position: remaining under Austrian administration until 1920, the Bassa Atesina then passed to Italy, but in 1948, following protests by the local population and the implementation of the autonomy statute set out in the De Gasperi-Gruber Agreement, the municipality was transferred from the province of Trento to that of Bolzano, correcting an earlier redrawing of the border dating from the Fascist period. Having become an independent municipality again in 1952, it added the reference to the Wine Route to its name in 1971. Even today the community is markedly bilingual, with a clear German-speaking majority alongside a historic Italian-speaking minority, evidence of a territory acting as a hinge between two cultures. For visitors, Cortina lends itself to an authentic wine-tourism experience: a stop to taste the wines of the Bassa Atesina, a bike ride along the Adige, a visit to the church of San Martino and, within a few minutes, a hop to the nearby villages of Magrè, Cortaccia and Egna, or beyond the Salorno Pass, already in Trentino.
Not to be missed
- The parish church of San Martino Vescovo, the religious heart of the small village
- A tasting of Schiava, Lagrein or Pinot Nero from the Bassa Atesina
- The Adige Valley cycle path among vineyards and irrigation channels
- The municipal coat of arms with its embattled wall and the symbols of the Lords of Appiano, on the town hall
- A stop along the South Tyrolean Wine Route, at its southernmost point toward the Trentino border
To see
What to see in Cortina sulla Strada del Vino
Routes · Trovido Route
