The Kuenhof in Bressanone makes noless than four white wines, each filled with character. The grapes are grown onsteep terraces on the slopes of Valle Isarco and vinified in theestate’s historic cellar, which is protected as a historic monument and hasroots going back centuries. Eight centuries, in fact.

The Kuenhof in Bressanone was first mentioned in a document in the 12thcentury. Back then, like so many other Valle Isarco estates, it was owned bythe bishop of Bressanone. For approximately 200 years now, however, the Pliger family has run things at theKuenhof, which has been gradually transformed into a wine-growing estate. Thelast, most important step in that direction was taken in 1990: ever since then,the Kuenhof grapes have been pressed on-site and the estate wines marketedindependently.

All that is made possible by the cultivation area of roughly six hectares.The steep south-east-facing terraces are located at an altitude of 550 to 890 meters.“The climate is rough, but it is virtually ideal for our whites,” explainsPeter Pliger, who runs the Kuenhof together with his wife Brigitte and theirson Simon. By “our whites,” he is referring to four varieties: Sylvaner,Riesling, Veltliner, and Gewürztraminer.

“It is very important to us that our wines are born from a well-balancedsymbiotic relationship between humans, the cultured plant, and nature,” saysPliger. And this credo also includes vinification with natural yeasts, whichmakes the Kuenhof whites turn out particularly long-lived and digestible.“Long-lived” being the operative word here—considering the estate is800 years old.