Blog: Kellerei Girlan · South Tyrol

The Girlaner Genossenschaft was founded in 1923 by only 23 members; today it is 246 winegrowers strong and has advanced to become one of the most well-known and distinguished wineries in South Tyrol. As early as 1950, as evidenced by older vintages still stored in the cellars, the cooperative began to emphasize strict mash selection in order to improve the quality of its products. Artificial fertilizers were banned early on, as it was recognized that quantity and quality are incompatible. At that time, the winery, under the leadership of Hartmuth Spitaler, was one of the first to start vinifying site wines separately. In this way, the winery made it clear to its winegrowers what qualities could be achieved with their grapes. Spitaler, not a man of big words, loves individual products full of character. Like many of his colleagues, he has divided his range into three product lines: The classic line, for good standard wines. The winery line, for wines from selected sites and varieties. And finally, the Selections, for wines that are not bottled every year. The labels of the Girlaner, which are worth seeing, were designed by the South Tyrolean Paul Flora and are also sought after by collectors. Remarkable is the fact that Spitaler has managed in the past decades to press excellent and storable wines also from the Vernatsch grape. These helped to restore the image of the former mass grape variety among insiders in recent years. - Gerardo [TS06/22]

"The winery, founded in 1923, is one of the oldest in South Tyrol. It owes its recent dynamic upswing not least to the commitment of operations director Oscar Lorandi and cellar master Gerhard Kofler, who developed successful new strategies. As part of this, the historic cellar complex was also redesigned from an aesthetic and functional point of view. The 230 suppliers own small plots of land in the entire area of Girlan and on the Unteretsch. They receive advice and instructions from the technicians at the head office, who always keep an eye on the environment." - Slow Wine