“Kellerei Kurtatsch” winery

The Kurtatsch Winery is located within some of the most striking Italian vineyard sites, in the village of Kurtatsch and directly along the South Tyrolean Wine Road. It is one of South Tyrol’s oldest and smallest cooperative wineries, and one of the best wine producers in the region. Its vineyard sites are unique in South Tyrol, with a wide array of soil types and elevations ranging from 220 to 900 meters. All of this dictates the philosophy of the province’s southernmost cooperative: to produce distinctive wines that reflect their growing site, their terroir, in the best possible manner.

This exceptional terroir, characterized by the geographical, geological and climatic features of the Kurtatsch vineyards, is the winery’s hallmark and absolutely unique in Italy. The very warm, steeply sloping sites have clay and gravel soils and temperatures that reach up to 40 degrees in the summer, ranking them among the hottest places in Italy and making them ideal for the production of top-notch international red wines. The upper Brenntal vineyards are especially suitable for Gewürztraminer with outstanding aging potential. The white wines, produced predominantly on steep limestone soils at elevations as high as 900 meters, benefit from strong, cooling nocturnal winds. Pinot Blanc from Hofstatt, the intense Kofl Sauvignon, Pinot Grigio from the steep slopes of Penon and the unique Müller Thurgau grown in the heights at Graun are distinctive mountain wines with remarkable expressiveness.

The keys to the success of the winery, founded in 1900, are its excellent grape quality year after year and its long tradition combined with modern technology and know-how. These are what have gained its highly territorial wines international renown. A young team, led by the winery’s director, Andreas Kofler, and its winemaker, Othmar Doná, has dedicated itself to a path of uncompromising pursuit of excellence. A full 85% of the 180 vineyards are located in the municipality of Kurtatsch, and cultivated by 180 members. This small-scale structure guarantees handcraftsmanship and a high degree of flexibility in the vineyard work. A new sustainability-focused management program aims at working methods that are in even closer harmony with nature.

Kurtatsch Winery produces its top line of wines, TERROIR, on single vineyard sites; most of these wines are named after their place of origin and express their full potential as the result of low yields. The quality standards for some of these wines are so high that they are bottled only in years where the weather conditions are optimal. The SELECTION Line comes from the first selection of Kurtatsch vineyards, with reduced yields and a program of strictly controlled cultivation.