Blog: Muri Gries · 1/2

Wine and the right way to handle it were already a topical issue 1,500 years ago for Benedict of Nursia, the founder of Monte Cassino. This has remained so to this day: Wine and monasteries have always been closely linked. On the one hand, there is the religious-liturgical significance of wine. Even the Bible is full of references to the juice of the vine. In Psalm 104, for example, the Creator is praised for what he makes grow, including 'the wine that gladdens the heart of man'. Wine has always been part of Judeo-Christian culture and tradition. For Christian worship, there is a need for Mass wine. Wine, with its strengthening and healing effects - and enjoyed in proper moderation - has been a natural part of our way of life since time immemorial. It is not without reason that the monasteries in Central and Southern Europe have played a significant role in the spread of European viticulture. The monastery of Muri-Gries has been part of this tradition since its foundation. We feel obliged to manage the vineyards, which have been entrusted to the monastery for centuries, as carefully as possible. The Klosterkellerei Muri-Gries relies on the possibilities of a manageable in-house production: from our own vineyard to the historic monastery cellar, from the barrel to the bottle, is our primary goal. We are pleased that our wines are held in high esteem today. However, this is also a mission and an obligation for the monastery winery. It is a matter of continuing a centuries-old tradition with a great deal of dedication, a sense of proportion and enthusiasm.

Walter Bernard, born in 1970, has been responsible for viticulture at the monastery since 1990. Every single growth phase in nature is carefully observed and followed: from the first budding to ripeness. 'How can I create the ideal conditions in the vineyard for the vine and its environment?' Walter Bernard faces this challenge every day: 'We try to educate the vine like a child: to understand it, to see what it needs and then to give it that. We try to deal with it in such a way that it delivers the best grape qualities at harvest.'

Christian Werth, born in 1961, has been an oenologist with heart and soul at the Klosterkellerei since 1988. For him, his work is both a hobby and a passion. The monastery community is open-mindedly behind his committed path between tradition and innovation. 'Every vintage is a new, great challenge for me,' Christian Werth is pleased to say. 'The most beautiful and exciting experience of the year for the cellar master is always tasting and taking the first sip of the new, young wine. It is so fascinating what nature produces every year in terms of convincing quality and new surprises.'

Lagrein is the only autochthonous red wine variety in South Tyrol besides Vernatsch. It is par excellence the red wine of Gries. And it is a valuable and unique grape variety that clearly stands out from the international uniform taste. Muri-Gries has always believed in Lagrein in the past and will rely on it even more in the future. Today, the primary goal of the monastery winery is to leave Lagrein its typical character traits, its down-to-earth taste, its rustic elegance and its identity, and to promote and bring out all of this even more, both in the vineyard and in the cellar. More than six centuries of vineyards adapted to the microclimate with over a hundred different Lagrein varieties developed from it, a heritage that obliges. About 20 varieties have been under observation for years in our own vineyards. From these, the biotypes for the new planting of the Klosteranger have been selected. Always with the aim of highlighting the special character of the grape variety even better and to continuously increase its quality and typicity. - Gerardo [TS06/22]