Wineries in South Tyrol

“I’m just a small, passionate winegrower,” says Gerda Kiem. It’s just that anyone who is induced by that little word “small” to underestimate Kiem and her Mauslocherhof is making a mistake. A big mistake.

The Mauslocherhof is run by the winegrower according to clear guidelines. Kiem calls herself “an open-minded thinker who gets the best from nature with passion.” And that also means working sustainably and close to nature – both in the vineyard and in the winery. “For us, working sustainably is something which is self-evident,” the committed winegrower says, adding, “But we’ve always worked that way.”

The goal of the quality work at the Mauslocherhof is creating eloquent wines with a relationship to their zone which are authentic and have their own character. “They should be elegant, pleasant, balanced wines that reflect our commitment and our conscientious work in the vineyard and the winery,” Kiem explains. In order for it to be possible to achieve that, great value is placed at the Mauslocherhof in Cermes on an ideal selection of grape varieties. “For every plot of every single vineyard, we have considered for a long time and with great care which grape variety can best develop there,” the winegrower says.

And the care with the selection of varieties has led to a broad product line. On the red side, this encompasses Lagrein, Merlot, and Pinot Noir, and with the whites Gewürztraminer, Yellow Muscat, Pinot Blanc, and Sauvignon Blanc. As has been stated, “small winegrowers” are not to be underestimated. Ever.

The Egger-Ramer Estate Winery in Bolzano has been in existence since 1880, and since that time it has followed one simple principle: cultivating indigenous grape varieties in a modern way. Peter Egger-Ramer, fifth generation winegrower at the estate winery, has expanded this goal by one dream: to create the perfect Lagrein.

Located right in the midst of the provincial capital of Bolzano, the Egger-Ramer Estate Winery has the best conditions for it – including because the focus was on Lagrein here very early on. “My father Toni already believed in the power and potential of Lagrein as early as the 1970s,” Egger-Ramer recounts, “so at a time when this grape variety was notorious for being a simple farmer’s wine with far too many sharp edges.”

Peter built upon the preparations by his father, worked tirelessly on the quality of his Lagrein, and with the Kristan Lagrein Riserva has created an extraordinary representative of its kind. But anyone who believes that with this, the Bolzano winegrower has achieved his goal will be mistaken. When asked about his dream, he responds, “It would be nice to create the perfect Lagrein someday.”

Even if Lagrein is the showpiece wine of this traditional estate winery, the palette of grape varieties in the vineyards that encompass some 15 hectares in and around Bolzano is much larger. Yellow Muscat, Pinot Blanc, Schiava, and Lagrein also grow there. With the indigenous varieties and all of the wines that reflect the particular character of the locations, Egger-Ramer says, “It combines the best of both worlds: the Alpine and the Mediterranean.”

Four-star ratings are rare for vineyards. But the Calvenschlössl Winegrowing Estate in Laudes in the community of Malles began with a vineyard at 1,000 meters and even went a step further in 2013. Or, to put it better, higher. In the monastery meadow of the Benedictine Abbey of Marienberg, Europe’s highest vineyard was planted. The German word for vineyard is Weinberg, meaning wine mountain, and that can completely be taken literally here.

In 2004, Hilde Van den dries acquired the Calvenschlössl castle. “Immediately afterward, the desire came upon us to make top-quality organic wine,” Van den dries says. But that is easier said than done, since the slopes around the house are not only steep, they also are situated at elevations between 970 and 1,005 meters above sea level.

In any case, the extreme locations have also turned out to be a stroke of luck. The southern exposure bestows upon the grapes ample sunshine, the elevation provides coolness, from which grapes with high sugar levels and prominent acidities result. In addition, in both vineyards the focus is not only on resistant grape varieties such as Solaris, Souvignier Gris, Zweigelt, and Cabernet Cortis, but also on careful dealings with nature and thus on a holistic method of agriculture.

And that also holds true in the winery. “The energy from the spontaneous fermentation from the natural yeast strains of the grapes lend our wines their unmistakable finesse and their unique character,” Van den dries is convinced. The elevation is therefore not the only special ingredient in the wine from the Calvenschlössl Wine Estate in Laudes.

Bernhard Pichler wanted to not only produce grapes, he wanted to keep the production of wine in his own hands from the vine to the labeling of the bottle. He has been doing so since 2003 at the Messnerhof in Bolzano and knows, “If the quality is good, then that is to our credit, and if sometimes something goes wrong, then we are just as responsible for it.”

Pichler is not the first one to make wine at the Messnerhof in Bolzano/San Pietro. Rather, they were producing wine themselves there up to the postwar period, after which the Pichlers concentrated upon the production of grapes. That is, until Bernhard came along. With the step to being independent, he realized a childhood dream.

The foundation of the wine production at the Messnerhof is formed by two vineyards. The first is located in Missiano in the community of Appiano, and at 0.8 hectares, it is only about half as big as the other one, which is found on a sunny slope with a southwestern exposure around the farmhouse in San Pietro. The climate is ideal at both locations. “Warm and then cooler winds provide prominent temperature fluctuations between day and night, which is optimal for the formation of aromas in the grapes,” Pichler says.

Within that context, the assortment of grapes is a broad one: Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Merlot, Syrah, Tempranillo, Schiava, Lagrein, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot are grown and then made into wine according to a clear guiding principle: “Our goal is to produce expressive wines,” Pichler says, “which preserve their independent characters of variety, location, and vintage.”

The alpine microclimate, mitigated by the Mediterranean influence, together with the dolomitic soil, calcareous and clayish, create in South Tyrol the ideal environment to produce excellent wines, appreciated all over the world for their minerality, structure and unique flavors.
Kellerei Auer wines are the result of the passion of expert oenologists, who are very devoted to this area and select the best grapes of the region for genuine wines with a strong character.

“Family business” is a tag that many operations pin to their lapels. But the Hans Rottensteiner Estate Winery does so legitimately. “All of the family members are involved in some way in the success of the operation – whether directly in the winery, in the office, or as grape suppliers,” explains Hannes Rottensteiner, who runs the estate winery along with his wife Judith in what is now the third generation.

But the estate is not just rooted in the family, it is also rooted in the world of Bolzano wine and its tradition. “Our focus lies fundamentally in the single varietal indigenous wines with a strong emphasis on the two typical Bolzano wines of Santa Maddalena and Lagrein,” the winegrower says. These have found the ideal conditions in the Bolzano porphyry soils, added to which these soils provide accentuated mineral tones in the wines.

In addition to those classic Bolzano reds, the significance of Pinot Blanc is also growing for the Hans Rottensteiner Estate Winery. “In recent years, it has become more and more important for us,” says Rottensteiner. At the current time, they make around 35 percent white wine, which is rather unusual for an estate winery right in Bolzano.

So the two main pillars of the Hans Rottensteiner Estate Winery have now turned into three. And in the future, this will be emphasized even further. “We want to establish ourselves even more strongly as specialists for Santa Maddalena, Lagrein, and Pinot Blanc,” says Rottensteiner, formulating the goal for his estate winery. But nothing will change with another established tenet: they are and will continue to be a family operation steeped in tradition.

Anyone who talks about the Castelatsch wine estate in Cengles, Val Venosta, must first talk about construction. The construction business, that is. After all, the owner of the wine estate, Werner Schönthaler, has a background in construction and has been researching ecological construction materials for a decade. “It has always been our goal to find alternatives for existing construction methods, so we started producing bricks made of hemp and lime,” explains Werner Schönthaler.
This construction material is sustainable through and through—and it was also used to build the Hof Castelatsch estate located on the slopes above Cengles. However, sustainability is not only skin-deep here: Werner Schönthaler pursues his agricultural activities with the same approach (and passion) which he already applied to his attempts to revolutionize the construction business.
And so the values at Hof Castelatsch reflect all those buzzwords that have become more and more popular since the climate crisis: future-friendly, for example, or health and well-being. And these values are, in turn, reflected in viticulture. After all, it is very important to Schönthaler to produce his wines in harmony with nature; in other words, sustainably …
… while following his own rules. His disinterest in conventional methods, which he already demonstrated in the construction business, also extends to wine, prompting him to tread on different paths. His grape varieties are all fungus-resistant (PIWI). His Eschkolot wine, for example, is a spontaneously fermented cuvée containing the Solaris, Muscaris, and Souvignier Gris grape varieties. And marble powder. Different paths, remember?

The A. von Elzenbaum Estate Winery in Termeno was mentioned in a document for the first time in 1530, and its wines officially won their first awards in 1886. So it is not surprising, then, that as a result of this, there is still a focus on tradition, on typical cultivation, and respect for nature, in view of their history that dates back nearly 500 years.

A tradition of that length could represent a burden to many, but for winegrower Josef von Elzenbaum, it is more of an obligation. He safeguards it in a tried and true, long-established manner, but at the same time he keeps his eyes open for new, innovative, interesting, and promising paths and techniques.

In spite of that, or maybe specifically because of that, the wines of the A. von Elzenbaum Estate Winery are rooted in their terroir. “For me, it first and foremost has to do with preserving the character of my wines that is typical of the location and carefully coordinating the selection of the variety to the location,” the winegrower says. Elevation, soil composition, microclimate: all of that has to be involved in the evaluation of a location in order to find the optimal grapevine.

This care with the matching has led over the years to a broad palette of wines which the A. von Elzenbaum Estate Winery has in its product line: Lagrein and Cabernet, Pinot Noir and Lago di Caldaro superiore, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay, and Red Muscat. But it doesn’t matter which wine you sample: you will taste Termeno, you will taste A. von Elzenbaum.

The latest chapter (for the time being) in the history of the Ansitz Mairhof in Parcines, which is over 800 years old and carried historical preservation, began in 1930. It began with one woman and a requisite dose of courage. And it ends in a success story in the form of a family-run estate winery. Or to put it better, it has not ended by far, and the success story is still going.

In spite of having nine smaller children, Antonia Kofler – the mother of today’s senior boss, Matthias Bernhart – bought the Ansitz Mairhof in Parcines at auction during the period between the wars. It was necessary to scrimp and save for the investment in the truest sense of the word – and only slowly did the estate get going on its own two feet: with cattle, pigs, chickens, grain, hay, and potatoes.

In addition to the classic self-reliance goods, grapes were soon also planted at the Ansitz Mairhof, thus kindling a passion that has still not left the family to this very day. “There is a lot to do in the vineyard, spread out over the entire year,” Bernhart recounts. “But the best time comes in autumn, with the harvest.”

But after that, the work is not done, since at the Ansitz Mairhof in Parcines, they make wine with their own grapes. “The work in the winery requires a lot of diligence, precision, and of course the love of a good glass of wine,” says Bernhart with a smile. He and his family continue to develop this recipe with these three ingredients, and a good homemade wine has turned into aromatic gourmet wines: Riesling, Schiava, and Pinot Noir.

History consists mostly of rock. At the Larcherhof in Bolzano-Rencio, for instance, the wines age in large wooden barrels in a cellar that dates back centuries. But even more impressive are the powerful Lagrein grapevines of the Larcherhof which themselves are more than a hundred years old. As can been seen with them, history lives.

The vineyards of the Larcherhof in Bolzano-Rencio belong to the classic Santa Maddalena cultivation zone which is distinguished by a mild, nearly Mediterranean climate, by hot days and cool nights at the time of maturation, and by warm porphyry soils and loose alluvial soils. The Spögler family has five hectares of grape growing area here. “We manage our vineyards in an environmentally-friendly way that is close to nature, without herbicides or insecticides,” explains Hans Jochen Spögler.

The vineyards are planted with Merlot, Schiava, and Pinot Grigio. And above all with Lagrein, which is to be understood as such a typical variety for Alto Adige. From the vineyards of the Larcherhof in Bolzano-Rencio, it is made into wines of different forms: Lagrein, Lagrein Kretzer rosé, Lagrein Riserva. The winegrowing tradition of the Spögler family, which runs the Larcherhof, dates back to 1893. But only since 2008 have they been making and bottling their own wines. In the meantime, production has risen to 45,000 bottles per year, a figure that will continue to grow further in coming years.

Two geographical locations that share an ancient connection come together at the Wieserhof Estate Winery in Völlan/Foiana. One of the two vineyards of the winery is located in Völlan above Lana, the second vineyard in Castagnara-Masetto near Lake Garda. But what is so special about that? Both vineyards have been connected by an ancient trade route for about 3,000 years now, which is why the Wieser family named its wine project after this route: La Traversara.
Hubert Wieser and his wife, Silvia, have been working on the “La Traversara” project for about 20 years now. They are the second generation to work the land at the Wieserhof estate. And their daughters Maya and Emma are now the third generation on the Wieserhof. The family produces four wines, which, just like the vineyards of the Wieserhof, are connected in many different ways.
Both vineyards—the one in Völlan and the one in Castagnara-Masetto—are located at approximately the same altitude (600 meters above sea level) and are home to the same two grape varieties (Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc). “The grapes of both vineyards and both varieties are aged in an identical process in wooden barrels, but they turn into four very characteristic wines, which each tell their own, unique story,” explains Hubert Wieser.
Again, that perfectly fits the Wieserhof Estate Winery from Völlan, which also tells us a story: a story that started approx. 3,000 years ago and tells us of the fusion of two geographical locations and cultures.

 

Mentioned in documents for the first time in 1545, the Perlhof Estate Winery, Max Thurner has existed for almost 500 years but is known more for its innovations than for its long tradition: “Never stand still, onward and upward, be brave enough to try new things, that’s what keeps us going,” explains Max Thurner, who, together with his family, is responsible for the entire wine production process at the Perlhof in Bozen-Oberleitach/Costa di Sopra-Bolzano: from growing the grapes all the way to bottling the wine.

The grapes for Max Thurner’s wines are grown in four different locations at altitudes ranging from 270 up to 550 meters above sea level on vineyards facing different directions, but all with excellent conditions. “The steep south-facing slopes around Bolzano/Bozen offer the perfect climate: masses of warm air rise from the Bolzano valley basin, while cooler streams of air come from the Eisacktal/Valle Isarco valley,” explains Thurner. In addition, the old vine stocks at the Perlhof grow on skeletal soil made up of quartz porphyry.

Not only four different locations but also four different wines characterize the range of products offered by the Perlhof Estate Winery. Aside from Santa Maddalena and Sauvignon, two classic wines, there is also a rosé made from Merlot grapes and the “Milo,” a cuvée made from Merlot and Schiava (Vernatsch). As the Perlhof never wants to stand still, it is continuously growing its range of wines.
 

Two wines come from the Milla Estate Winery in Cortaccia. No more. Both are cuvées, both contain the same three grape varieties, both ferment in open wooden barrels, and both can be aged for a long time. Winegrower Gert Pomella thus concentrates on a small product line. But good things come in small packages.

Pomella tends nearly four hectares of grape growing areas at the Milla Estate Winery in Cortaccia. It is divided into seven different vineyards, all of which are on steep slopes and have heavy loam soils. That makes them the ideal location for Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot, which are grown at the Milla Estate Winery in Cortaccia. In different proportions, these three grape varieties form the foundation for the two wines from Gert Pomella: “Centa” and “Milla”.

When making the two wines, Pomella follows his own path. The fermentation takes place in open wooden and steel barrels, the cap of pressings is circulated several times a day – by hand. “I use the pressed wine to extend the physiological maturity of the wines,” the winegrower-slash-winemaker explains. Both wines then mature in small casks of French oak, and for a full 24 months. “I age my ‘Centa’ wine in used barrels and my ‘Milla’ in one hundred percent new barrels,” says Pomella, who then also lets his wines age for at least one year in the bottle.

A lot of time, a lot of expense, a lot of work for two wines. But you can taste it.

The Hof Pomaria estate in Caldaro has an unusual name which refers to the Latin “pomus,” which means “fruit tree.” That comes as no surprise: the estate is located in the Palude di Caldaro area and is surrounded by orchards. But the Rellich family business has a second leg to stand on, and not just in the geographical sense: the grapes, which are then single-handedly matured into top-quality wines, are cultivated in Cortaccia.

Regarding wine, Klaus Rellich took over from his ancestors, who had been cultivating grapes and making wine for generations. Rellich uses an area of approx. 1,500 square meters for that. “The calcareous gravel and loamy soil in the hills of Cortaccia create ideal prerequisites for winegrowing; moreover, the sunny site and good ventilation are conducive to bringing forth excellent grapes,” explains the winegrower, who cultivates Pinot Blanc, Merlot, and Schiava grapes in his vineyards.

The reference to the excellent suitability of the area for winegrowing is not just a marketing trick employed by the Rellich family, by the way: it is historically documented. The old field name “Frauenrigl” was already mentioned in very old documents; today, it is the single vineyard that forms the foundation of the wines produced—and mainly sold—at the Hof Pomaria estate in Caldaro: from Pinot Blanc and a classic Schiava to a Merlot Rosé.

 

Luis Oberrauch is someone who did not get his passion for wine right from the cradle but nevertheless has lived it since his childhood. However, it is only since 2017 that he has run his own Luis Oberrauch Estate Winery in Ora in which all of his knowledge and experience flow together.

Already as a child, Oberrauch went hand in hand with his godfather through his vineyards, and at age 13 he made his first wine under that uncle’s tutelage. This was followed by agricultural high school, oenology studies in Geisenheim, Germany, and work at the Cantina Tramin at which even today, Oberrauch lends a hand to winemaker Willi Stürz.

Then in 2017, the opportunity presented itself to lease vineyards in Ora. “There are around five thousand grapevines in my vineyards, and even though it may sound silly, I know every single one of them,” Oberrauch says. He deals carefully and gently with his vines that grow on Pergola trellises. “In the face of more and more frequent extreme weather events, the pergola trellis has a series of advantages,” the winegrowing expert explains. These include deeper root systems (and thus less drought stress) and natural shading that prevents a burning of the grapes.

“Just like in the vineyard, it is also important for me in the winery to make only minimal interventions,” Oberrauch says. His wines are therefore only coarsely filtered just shortly before bottling, and Oberrauch does without fining. His lifelong roots in the world of wine also shows itself in his selection of grape varieties. Thus what grows at the Luis Oberrauch Estate Winery is only the indigenous varieties of Lagrein and Schiava.

Strong vineyards and wines in which the terroir identity can be tasted: that is what distinguishes the Malojer Gummerhof Winery. It lies in the rural northern part of Bolzano and can look back on a long history. For five generations, the focus has consistently been on quality and identity.

When Bolzano was still small and manageable, the Gummerhof was located right in the middle of a landscape of vineyards, fields, and meadows. That was in 1480, when the farm was mentioned for the first time in a document. Precisely four hundred years later, Joseph Trafojer purchased the winegrowing farmhouse and step by step converted it into a winery and distillery. When his granddaughter, who had married into the Malojer family, took over the operation in the late 1940s, the name of the operating family may have changed, but the recipe for success stayed the same.

This was built upon two pillars. One of them is the rigorous policy of quality that has been followed for decades, while the other is the terroir identity that it should be possible to taste in Gummerhof wines. The result is a broad palette of wines with strong character: Cabernet, Merlot, Lagrein, Pinot Noir, Schiava, Müller Thurgau, Sylvaner, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Blanc.

Depending upon the variety, the wines are aged in stainless steel tanks, in small oak casks, or in the old large oak barrels that are handed down from generation to generation. Each of them imparts a character to the wines that is unmistakable – as it should be. That is also what Urban Malojer, winemaker of the family winery, says. “Our goal is to constantly be improving our wines and to make them more and more typical.”

For generations, the Seppi family has had strong ties to wine growing—even stronger than usual in a village such as Caldaro, where wine plays an important role to begin with. These days, the family-owned Seppi Vineyards in Caldaro are run by Werner Seppi—supported by his family—, and have been for more than 20 years.
In 2005, it was decided to venture away from the conventional ways and lead the vineyards down a new path. “Gradually our wish grew to remold the vineyards according to our personal, more individual ideas. We wanted to depart from well-trod paths and develop something special and sustainable,” says Werner Seppi. And so they switched to biodynamic agriculture—first in the vineyards and in 2016 in the wine cellar, too.
This second milestone was born from the decision to take a portion of the grapes for the wine in their own cellars to create wines that reflected the special characteristic of the wine estate and its locations. They even go so far as to vinify the grapes from the different vineyards separately. “In Caldaro, we refer to small geographic units as ‘riegel’,” says Werner Seppi, “and we mature the grapes grown in those riegel units separately.”
Consequently, wines from the Seppi Vineyards can be traced back to the smallest geographic unit. Gewürztraminer and Pinot Blanc, for example, are grown on the Panigl riegel; Sauvignon, on the Prey riegel; Schiava (Vernatsch), on the See riegel, and Cabernet Franc on the Feld riegel. In other words: they are taking the idea of terroir very seriously at Seppi Vineyards.

In the colorful mosaic of Alto Adige winegrowing, there are larger and smaller tiles. The Kiemberger Estate Winery in Terlano, with an annual production of just around 8,000 bottles, is among the smaller. Nevertheless, something would be missing if this tile weren’t there.

The Kiemberger Estate Winery is located in the winegrowing village of Terlano in the Adige Valley, with its vineyards in the village itself and in neighboring Andriano. On a total of just 1.5 hectares of grape growing areas, Chardonnay, Müller Thurgau, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc are grown, which form the basis for the classic Terlano wine. “The first three grow on a sandy-loamy limestone soil in Andriano, while the Sauvignon Blanc, on the other hand, is planted in Terlano, where it finds a sandy porphyry soil,” explains Norbert Kofler, winegrower at the Kiemberger Estate Winery.

Kofler has been making his own wines since 2007 and also markets them independently. “Our wines must first and foremost meet our own demands,” Kofler says. To do so, the grapes are harvested in the second half of September, they are pressed gently, and then the mash is fermented in stainless steel tanks at a constant temperature of 19 degrees Celsius. “Our wines are matured on the fine yeast, primarily in small and medium-sized oak casks, for at least eight months with the Terlano Classico and up to 32 months with the Lagrein Riserva,” the winegrower says.

The wines that are created in this way are “originals strong in character,” says Kofler, in which the properties of the soil and the vintage can be tasted. “Our wine is anything but mainstream,” the head of the small but impressive Kiemberger Estate Winery says. He goes on to add, “And yet it is somehow classic.”

Roberto Ferrari came into winegrowing from a different field. And yet not exactly. After all, he has been active forever in the world of wine, specifically as a winemaker. “After having done that for years, I wanted to create wines under my own name,” Ferrari says. For that reason, he runs the Profil Wine Factory in Termeno.

In 2007, Ferrari made the leap, quit his position in a renowned winery, and went independent with four hectares of vineyards. Since that time, he has been growing Chardonnay, Lagrein, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, and Merlot, tending them organically even if not certified. The former employee now makes three lines of his own: Profil, Pulsar, and, as a select wine in the best vintages, RF Selection.

In the winery, Ferrari pursues the goal of creating extraordinary wines, wines which, as he himself puts it, are characterized by passion, expertise, and creativity. “I always attempt to mix that extra breath of personality into my wines, and in that way, wines are created with my name, my signature,” explains the head of the winery.

Today, around 18,000 bottles per year leave the Profil Wine Factory in Termeno: aromatic and mineral rich, surprising and genuine, but above all else natural wines, That was also the reason why Ferrari wanted to go independent. He wanted to create his own wines: with strong character, individual, but not overbearing.
If winegrower Ferrari’s life had a navigation system, it would now announce, “You have arrived at your destination.”

The vineyards of the Klasen Hof in Nalles are steep, which makes work with machines nearly impossible. For that reason, the majority of the work is done by hand. Which may sound like great toil, but for the Thurner family, not only is that something which is self-evident, it is also an advantage. “In that way, we can have a targeted influence upon the improvement of the quality of the grapes in the vineyard,” so the family philosophy goes. At the Klasen Hof in Nalles, having so much passion is a tradition.

In the early twentieth century, Alois Mair, the great-grandfather of the growers there today, had the courage to build a farm out of nothing and, from the very beginning on, to also focus on winegrowing. “Klasen Luis”, as he was known, was thus able to lay the foundation for an operation that continues to be run successfully today. The Thurner family is aware that, “We profit form comprehensive knowledge that has been passed down from generation to generation about the cultivation of grapes and from many years of experience in the winery.”

Their motto is that high quality comes from both the grapevine and the barrel. Therefore, the focus is on the right balance between the work in the vineyard and in the winery. What emerges are thus wines with strong character in which the aromas reflect the cultivation zone – and the passion with which the Klasen Hof in Nalles makes their Lagrein, Schiava, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Blanc. For around a century.

Engadiner Wines, located in Gleno in the municipality of Montagna, is a fairly young wine estate—in more than just one way: Under the brand “Engadiner Wines,” the Zelger family started to produce wines, each of them imbued with a distinctly unique character, from their own grapes as recently as in 2021. And the Zelgers themselves are still young both in age and spirit and turned their hobbies – nature, agriculture, and wine – into a family business.

The Engadiner Wines wine estate has two locations. One of them is the family estate in Gleno, a location most famous for its Pinot Noir. Located in the south of Alto Adige at an altitude of 650 meters, their vineyards benefit from intense sunshine during the day and cooler temperatures at night. These fluctuations in temperature produce fresh, elegant wines.

The estate’s second location is their wine gardens in Ora, located at the valley floor, where Lukas Zelger mainly grows Lagrein, as the soils rich in porphyry and the comparably high temperatures are especially beneficial for this variety.

In addition to their varietal Pinot Noir and Lagrein, the Engadiner Wines estate also offers a Kerner characteristic for the variety. “It is our philosophy to produce wines typical of the terroir and true to our standard,” explains Lukas Zelger.

 

The Kreithof is an estate winery filled with tradition whose roots date back to the Middle Ages.
At that time, a farm was created on a cleared space (in Middle High German, Gereuth) on a hill above San Michele-Appiano, the name of which little by little came under the influences of dialect until it was transformed into “Kreit”. And the way it looks is also different than it was back then. In the eighteenth century, the farmhouse was expanded into a magnificent manor, with the house occupied and the land worked by the Raifer family since 1813.

Aside from how the farmhouse looks, the economic pillars of the farm have always included winegrowing from the very start. So today, Johann Raifer runs seven hectares of vineyard area. “By far the largest part of our grapevines grow at somewhat higher than 400 meters above sea level on sandy-loamy moraine soils around our farmhouse,” Raifer explains. Just one smaller vineyard that belongs to the Kreithof is located in the vicinity of Lake Caldaro.

A broad palette of grape varieties is planted that ranges from Pinot Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc to Yellow Muscat and Goldmuskateller to Schiava, Pinot Noir, and Lagrein.

“Five hectares, respect for nature, and no hocus pocus.” The philosophy of an estate winery cannot be described more briefly – or more accurately – than Kurt Rottensteiner does for his Brunnenhof in Egna. A philosophy that is also supported by the fact that the Brunnenhof is situated in Mazzon, one of Alto Adige’s best Pinot Noir areas.

Nature has therefore meant well for the vineyards of the Brunnenhof in Egna-Mazzon, for which the Rottensteiner family is grateful: since 2011, they have been running their estate winery according to ecological guidelines, and it is organic certified. “Our vineyards need to stay lively,” Kurt Rottensteiner says, since “The more vitality and fullness in the vineyards, the more will later on be in the wine.”

That holds true without making sacrifices for all of the locations and varieties at the Brunnenhof. Manzoni Bianco grapes have been thriving on the scree cone of the Rio Trodena and, since 1921, Lagrein vines! Added to these are Gewürztraminer, and Yellow Muscat, but above all else Pinot Noir. “The sandy loam soils, the wind exposure, the midday sun, the Ora wind from Lake Garda, and the cool nights: all of these are the perfect conditions,” explains Rottensteiner.

And the winegrower also abstains from hocus pocus above all else in the winery. In the vaulted cellars of the Brunnenhof that stay pleasantly cool in the summer, white and red wines mature, whereby the latter are without any small oak casks. “We don’t want the tannin and the vanilla flavor of wood, but rather more of the wine’s own tannins and its own fruit,” says Rottensteiner, aiming for wines that tell their own story. Without, in fact, any hocus pocus.