Good wines are produced in the vineyard, not in the cellar. This was the guiding concept for the planning and creation of the new winemaking facilities, designed with complete adherence to ecological criteria and the principles of biological building, that opened in 1995 in the heart of our historical Löwengang estate in Magrè. The primary goal of our winemaking process is to fully preserve the potential of quality that develops in the vineyards themselves, and to further its realization. Grapes must be handled with outmost caution and care, and with methods that remain as close as possible to nature. Harmonic interaction between man and nature is one of our fundamental goals, but we also recognize the importance of modern technology and computer science as aids in the pursuit ofquality. We make best use of the technological advances of the last several decades whenever it makes sense to do so, but we also remain quite critical of ill-considered and superfluous technological interventions that divorce the work in the cellars from natural processes.

The grapes, the must, and the wines are always to be handled in ways that afford them the greatest protection, and which most preserve their intrinsic qualities; and we achieve this goal by relying on two of the most basic natural principles: gravity and the circle. Both of these factors come to expression in the vinification tower, some seventeen meters tall, which stands at the heart of our winemaking facilities. The gravitational force of differences in elevation allows the grapes to be cellared without the use of pumps or other mechanical transport systems. The harvest can be said to be cellared “in free fall.” At every stage of their vinification the wines are handled in accordance with protective methods that preserve their quality and allow it to unfold. The fermentation vats are likewise arranged in a circle around the point at which the grapes and must run downfrom the tower.

Avoiding lengthy transport routes allows the grapes, the must, and the wines a maximum level of protection as they move from one step of production to the next. Production methods are both quality-protective and economical. After fermentation the wines are allowed to mature and achieve their full development in the historical cellars of the Tòr Löwengang cellars.

“The less and the later you intervene in natural processes, and the more you allow the wine its tranquility, so much the better.” That’s the guiding conviction of Alois Lageder. Decades of winemaking experience and a deeply-rooted sense of tradition, combined with openness to technological innovation and a commitment to the principles of sustainable viticulture characterizes the firm. Their approach is to do everything possible to assure the production of harmonic, expressive, appealing wines, allowing the best expression of different grape varieties and of the natural settings in which they grow. Alois Lageder remarks, “That’s something for which we allow them all the time they need.”