On the Kohlerer Berg above Bolzano, where the Alps begin their descent toward the Dolomites and old pergola vines cling to terraces too steep for tractors, Martin Gojer makes wines that feel nothing like the polished, cooperative-dominated production of Sudtirol. His estate, Weingut Pranzegg, is a project defined by refusal--no fining, no filtration, no synthetic inputs, no shortcuts--and by a profound commitment to expressing exactly what these ancient slopes have to say.
Backstory
The Gojer family has farmed the Pranzegg site for three generations. Martin first took over the estate at age 18 and spent his early years selling grapes, as most small growers in the region do. In the early 2000s he began planting additional vines and renovating the cellar. By 2008 he had formally assumed control and immediately converted to biodynamic farming. The first estate-bottled wines were released in 2009. Since then, Pranzegg has grown into one of the most sought-after small estates in the whole of northern Italy.
The Region
Alto Adige sits in the far northeast of Italy, sharing a border with Austria and steeped in a dual German-Italian culture. The valley floor around Bolzano is dominated by large cooperatives that collectively process over 90 percent of the region's grapes. The steep hillside estates--Pranzegg operates at elevations where only hand labor is possible--occupy a different world entirely, defined by thermal variation, ancient soils, and a winemaking culture that predates the cooperative era.
Vineyards and Farming
Martin and Marion Gojer farm 3.5 hectares across the Kohlerer Berg and Ritten, cultivating Lagrein, Schiava (Vernatsch), Muller Thurgau, Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc, and a small mixed white field blend. All work is done by hand on narrow terraces. Rather than chemical weedkillers, a small flock of Ouessant sheep--the world's smallest sheep breed--graze between the vines, fertilizing naturally and keeping the grass short. Martin prepares his own biodynamic preparations and uses no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers.
Winemaking
Fermentations proceed spontaneously with wild yeasts. Wines mature on full lees for two to three years before bottling--unusually long by any standard, and radical within a region that prizes crisp, early-drinking styles. Nothing is fined or filtered. Sulfur additions, if used, are minimal and applied only just before bottling. The result is wines with tension rather than opulence, grip rather than jammy fruit, and a sense of time and place that sets them apart from the regional norm.
The Wines
The Lagrein and Lagrein Laurenc are complex, textured reds that bear little resemblance to the commercial versions of this grape. The Schiava bottlings--delicate, low-alcohol, and deeply aromatic--reveal the true character of this often-underestimated variety. The whites, including field-blend bottlings, are piercingly mineral and alive with acidity. With only 14 wines produced across roughly 4 hectares, allocations are extremely limited and demand consistently exceeds supply.
