South Tyrol with its apparent contradictions is an attractive and fascinating region. Hot days alternate with cool nights; the cultures of Austria and Italy mix and mingle, and the climate is either Mediterranean or Alpine. The region combines mountains and meadows, conventional fruit-growing and biodynamic viticulture.

The family business Alois Lageder started with a small wine shop in Bolzano and two nearby vineyards. Alois Lageder took over responsibility for the business at the age of 24 and has been developing it ever since. As far back as the late 1970s he came to see that the future of the business would be in biodynamics.

He wanted to show by practical example that wine-growing can succeed without the use of chemicals. Se he developed a plan, one step at a time, that has now borne fruit. There is a great feeling of openness and hospitality here, along with a joy in and love of the region. Now in the third generation, the business has 55 hectares of grapevines, over 70 employees and in excess of 80 winegrowing partners. The wine shop has expanded to a restaurant, various event locations for concerts, and wine cellars filled with a wide range of varieties and terroirs.

If you meet any of the team, it is quickly clear that they share a common aim and passion for innovation with high quality standards. This results in both smaller experimental wines such as the Comets and larger barrels of exceptional quality.

In order to achieve all this, the business is viewed as an organism. This involves careful observation and the attempt to enter into the different requirements of the place: what do the soil, the plants, the vines, the animals and people need in order to develop their full potential?

Prompted by this way of looking at things, animals have also been reintroduced to the vineyard. The cattle and sheep add diversity, which can be seen in the greater variety of plants but also experienced in the taste of the wine. Every place and every year taste a little different.

The wines are now exported all over the world, so that people everywhere can experience this diversity of tastes and quality. So the farm organism, the passion for innovation and the top quality of the biodynamic wines spread across the world, far beyond the original vineyards.

Further information about Alois Lageder are available at: https://aloislageder.eu/