Alois Lageder

The roots of the Alois Lageder winery extend back to 1823 when the young craftsman Johann Lageder set himself up as a wine merchant in Bolzano. His successors started to produce their own wines and acquired several vineyards. Johann’s great-grandson, Alois III, saw the variety of climate zones in Alto Adige as one of the region’s strengths. In 1934 he purchased the Löwengang wine estate in Magrè, in the southern part of Alto Adige, and smaller winegrowers began to supply him with grapes. When he passed unexpectedly in 1963, his wife Christiane and his eldest daughter Wendelgard managed the estate on an interim basis because his son was only 12 years old. Assuming leadership in the 1970s, Alois IV – with his sister, her husband and oenologist Luis von Dellemann – set about repositioning the winery with a strict focus on quality and innovative methods in the vineyard and cellar. 

The Lageder way recognizes that quality is a product of individual details and small steps. Everything they work with is viewed in the totality of its characteristics and mutual relationships For them, wine is a sum of different components to explore, discover and link together. The objective is striking a balance between the elements. Nature is constantly changing and so are the conditions in their region of Alto Adige. 

Developments in the vineyard are subject to a variety of influences: from the properties of the soil and the people who work there to overarching factors like global warming and the movements of celestial bodies. All these influences are inseparably linked and are reflected in the features and quality of the emerging wines. Lageder’s desired style – liveliness, freshness and precision – require an understanding of the natural conditions and how to play with different components. Today, the 50-hectare family-owned vineyards are farmed biodynamically.

As a company and an individual, Alois Lageder constantly strives to think in terms of relationships on a cross-cutting, interdisciplinary basis, with and in the interest of further dynamic development. That is the reason why, in addition to a commitment to sustainability, they also work to promote a variety of projects in the fields of music and arts.