The number of organic wine producers in Alto Adige is still small, but already the group includes some highly respected names. Lageder, Hofstätter and Manincor are among the best producers in the region. In addition, less well-known, smaller producers with excellent wines in their ranges are discovering the benefits of organic viticulture.

This report sets out to give a complete overview of the most important organic wine producers in the Alto Adige region, be they bio-organic or bio-dynamic, and to discuss their motivation, their difficulties and successes, and possibly to look at problems that still need to be solved.

Any report on organic wine-growing in Alto Adige has to start off with

Rainer Loacker

as he was the first to initiate organic wine-growing in Alto Adige. At the end of the 1970’s Rainer Loacker opted for winemaking as his career, and it was clear to him from the outset that  he wanted to implement biodynamic principles. Actually there was no particular reason to support this decision, as there were virtually no practical experiences that had been gather in the region with organic wine-growing. As a newcomer, Loacker received derogatory comments rather than support for his decision from colleagues, and in economic terms Rainer Loacker was exchanging a secure existence with the vagaries of a totally new challenge.

Rainer Loacker framed by his sons

In fact, as co-owner of a successful company producing sweets he was comfortably off. However, a severe illness prompted him to reconsider his life thoroughly, and to change things. He chose wine-growing as his new project, and since he had overcome his disease with homeopathic medicines he wanted to implement these methods in his work as a wine-grower. „At the time” so says his son Hayo Loacker, who is now responsible fort he cellar, „he had to find out many things by experimenting, and sometimes the results were not particularly satisfactory.” I was curious, and can confirm that I was also one of those who bought the occasional bottle of Loacker wine at the organic shop in my area. But 20 years are a long time, and I really must admit I cannot remember what these wines tasted like at the time. Certainly they did not convert me to become an enthusiastic lover of organic wines. „They certainly were not top wines in those days,” confirms Hayo Loacker. „One simply still had to gain a great deal of experience in the organic field in order to eventually produce exceptional quality.”

I feel strongly that Rainer Loackers work deserves particular respect because he stuck to this difficult path, and did not throw in the towel, and did not take the safe and easy option of reverting to conventional wine-growing methods. Instead he stuck by his original decision, determined to overcome the problems. Looking at the quality of his wines now, and the commercial success that has come with it, he was right to persevere. When it comes to wine, you can always argue about the style, and personally I would have wished to see a little more elegance in some of the red wines. But the wines that leave the Locker winery these days are rightly no longer restricted to distribution in organic specialty shops, they can be found in many well-stocked vinotheques, and each bottle is worthy of our attention for its quality and individual character. In addition to his wine estates in Alto Adige, Sankt Justina close to Bolzano, and in the Aisack valley, Rainer Loacker has in the meantime added two wine estates in Tuscany to his holdings - naturally, both of them are being run along biodynamic guidelines.

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