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From cellar to label, from vineyard to lavish hotel: wine tells stories ...
In the past, wineries blended obediently and seamlessly into a landscape of houses that had established themselves in accordance with tradition over time. During the handover from wine-cellar grandfather to wine-cellar father, winery buildings remained essentially unchanged, that is to say: purpose built. That little bit of showing off, the idea of prestige and symbols of status were limited to indoors: the wine gentry usually had a small gallery of ancestral portraits or of drunken revelry and wine genre paintings carved on their most beautiful wine barrels. This has changed radically in the last ten years; today, the new South Tyrolean wine cellar architecture sometimes seems like an alien has fallen from the sky. Shrill, emphatically eye-catching, uncompromisingly modern - precisely for this reason it is highly successful and very popular among an amazed wine public. These new wine houses resemble a pergola (Tramin) or an extravagant hat (Nals) or even a mole mound (Manincor). The hidden arts of days gone by has been forgotten; the new wine lords no longer rely on woodcarvers, but have (unfortunately) largely dispensed with painters and/or visual artists who used to help design their wine labels, forecourts and reception rooms.
The Pramstahlers, the family that owns Grottnerhof in Völs have consciously brought the subject of wine to the fore with a decidedly different, very artistic approach. Grottnerhof, now part of Romantik Hotel Turm, a member of Vinum Hotels South Tyrol, presses their grapes in such a way that the wine reflects the character of its surroundings and that of the people behind it. Stephan Pramstrahler, owner and host, prefers monovarietal wines and Grottnerhof wines bear the names of character-strong birds – raven, eagle owl, black grouse, magpie. The creative genius behind these flamboyant labels is Florin Kompatscher, a South Tyrolean artist currently residing in Berlin.
These 10 hectares of grapevines at Tenuta di Fra' unfurl like a lush green fan. Uninterrupted. Smooth. Engaging. Centrally enthroned. Architecturally minimalist.
"Sometimes you have to go with your gut feeling!" In 2018, Franziska Waldner from the Vinum Hotel South Tyrol "Muchele" ventured into the world of winemaking as a newcomer in the Marche region of Italy. Here, she acquired the Tenuta di Frá with its 7 hectares of vineyards and later was able to buy 3 more. "These 10 hectares of grapevines at Tenuta di Fra' unfurl like a lush green fan. Uninterrupted. Smooth. Engaging. Centrally enthroned. Architecturally minimalist."
Today, she is one of the region's up-and-coming women winemakers. With a lot of courage, incredible passion and family support, the winery has proved itself by employing organic farming methods and with its adoration for the autochthonous grape varieties Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi and Lacrima di Morro d'Alba.
With spacious suites above the new wine cellar building in a dreamlike panoramic location, guests are drawn to an important theme in the Marche: wine! This includes offers to spend the night under the grapevines in a canopy bed: "Fall asleep in the middle of the vineyards, under a canopy of stars. Amidst sweet grapes at a lovely table set for two, enjoying Italian antipasti from the Marche at sunset. Wine enough and to spare. Waking up to the first rays of sunshine. Almost kitschy. But true.