Trentino is a strange wine country. Although it is one of the smallest wine-growing regions in Italy, with just 9,000 hectares of vineyards, and most of the vines are planted on steep slopes that are difficult to work, the image of Trentino wine is mainly shaped by three large cooperatives - Cavit, Mezzacorona and the Cantina Sociale di Lavis - which fill the shelves of domestic supermarkets and the containers of bulk buyers in the USA, Great Britain and Germany with inexpensive varietal wines - above all Pinot Grigio. All these wines are technically well made, that is: clean, fruity and fresh. For many - unfortunately all too many - consumers, that seems to be enough. But those who demand unmistakable character of origin will certainly not be happy with these wines. Yet, due to its geographical and climatic conditions, Trentino has the best prerequisites for high-quality terroir wines. And these wines do exist in Trentino. They are mainly produced by the many small and medium-sized self-marketers based here, the Vignaioli del Trentino, who, however, are hardly known outside the country's borders. And the producers who are known, such as Pojer & Sandri, Elisabetta Foradori and the fine sparkling wine producer Ferrari, are rarely associated with their region of origin, Trentino. There have been, and still are, repeated efforts by the territorial wine marketing to give the wine region of Trentino an identity as a growing region of distinctive, independent quality wines. But all these attempts have ultimately failed because of the supposed success of Pinot Grigio & Co.