Josephus Mayr

Medieval antecedents

The Pignater property was already recorded as a wine farm, complete with a traditional wine press, in documents dating from the 13th century.

Acquisition of Unterganznerhof

In 1629, Simon Mayr—known as “Küchenmayr” and originating from Völs am Schlern—purchased Unterganznerhof. The Mayr family has lived and worked at the farm ever since. Ownership passed directly from father to son for eleven generations, preserving the property as an inherited estate and an example of South Tyrol’s closed-farm system.

The family’s continuity accumulated practical knowledge over successive generations. Experience, shared work and cooperation among the generations became the foundation of its approach to viticulture and wine quality.

Defending the estate from the rivers

Unterganznerhof stands near the confluence of the Eggentaler stream and the Eisack river. Farmers reclaimed and defended its vineyard ground from the waterways over centuries. In 1779, a protective flood wall was built around the entire wine estate; the surviving structure continues to encircle the farm.

Historic wine trade and cellar work

A preserved old booklet containing detailed lessons for cellar masters documents the family’s longstanding involvement in winemaking. Before the beginning of the 20th century, its wines were already transported beyond the borders of the province. At that time, wines were matured and stored exclusively in wooden barrels.

The modern cellar subsequently incorporated concrete and steel structures and contemporary technology, while wooden casks retained a central role. The estate continues to mature its highest-grade wines exclusively in wood.

Estate bottling and expansion

The Mayr family has bottled its own quality wines for approximately 40 years. It now carries out the full chain in-house, from handling estate-grown grapes through winemaking and bottling to the sale of individual bottles.

In 1994, Mayr-Unterganzner became part of Tirolensis Ars Vini, an association of independent South Tyrolean wine estates created to exchange viticultural and oenological knowledge and pursue common quality standards.

The family acquired Pignater in 2004. The site expanded its holdings onto the north-east-facing slopes of Kampennerberg and provided vineyards at 370–450 m, particularly for white varieties as well as Merlot, Lagrein and Schiava.

Cultivation of Heilmann began in 2014. The shallow moraine soils and well-ventilated position above the porphyry wall of Santa Giustina became a source of Schiava, Lagrein and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Kohlegg joined the group of vineyard sites in 2018. At more than 800 m near Außerkohlegg in Cornedo, it became an experimental organic project devoted to fungus-resistant varieties and different Pinot Nero clones.

Eleventh-generation management

In 2025, Josef Mayr assumed leadership as the 11th generation. He runs the estate with his parents, Barbara and Josephus, his sister Katharina and his wife Franka. The family remains responsible for vineyard cultivation, harvesting, cellar work, bottling and direct sale.

Setting

Unterganznerhof lies at 285 m on the eastern edge of the Bolzano basin. The estate is built on locally characteristic porphyry where the Eggentaler stream enters the Eisack river. Beyond the home vineyard, the family cultivates sites on the basin floor and the adjoining slopes.

Unterganznerhof

Proximity to the rivers created deep alluvial soils over material of porphyritic origin. Their light structure warms rapidly in spring, permits good aeration and provides efficient drainage. The deep profile and complex mineral composition provide the principal growing conditions of the home vineyard. The land was wrested from the waterways over centuries and remains enclosed by the flood wall erected in 1779.

Contrasting sites

The other vineyards broaden the estate’s range of elevations, exposures and soil profiles. Pignater rises from 370 to 450 m on a north-east-facing slope, with porphyry-derived soils and areas containing glacial gravel. It combines long sunshine during the growing season with good ventilation and marked temperature fluctuations.

Boden occupies the warmest and most sheltered position, on the right bank of the Eisack beneath the near-vertical porphyry wall of Santa Giustina. Its ground combines glacial gravel with weathered porphyry.

Heilmann lies above the same porphyry escarpment. Its position encourages air movement through the vines, while its soils are shallow and morainic.

Kohlegg is the highest named site, at more than 800 m below Außerkohlegg in Cornedo. Its soil is porphyritic with a proportion of clay.

Platt is a narrow foothill vineyard near the original estate at the base of Kampennerberg. Part of the site consists of porphyry-derived ground.

The overriding viticultural objective is ripe, high-quality fruit. Much of the estate remains committed to the pergola system, but the traditional form is modified to combine a high number of vines per hectare with a low yield per vine. Variety and vine selection, yield regulation and careful vineyard work support this approach.

Artificial fertilisers and herbicides are deliberately excluded. Rather than clearing and completely replanting vineyards, the family replaces dead vines or renews sections selectively, maintaining a high average vine age.

Lagrein receives particular attention as the estate’s most important variety. Decades of selection within its vineyards have produced vine descendants retained for their qualitative performance.

At Kohlegg, the family experiments with organic cultivation at more than 800 m. The plantings include several fungus-resistant varieties and multiple Pinot Nero clones. The wine collection also identifies the Kohlegg resistant varieties and mountain-grown Pinot Nero as organically cultivated.

Harvesting is directed toward obtaining grapes at their optimum ripeness. Vineyard-specific technical sheets additionally demonstrate that yield regulation can include shoot removal, bunch thinning or partial bunch reduction, although the exact operation varies by variety and parcel.

Mayr-Unterganzner performs the production chain in-house, taking its estate-grown grapes through vinification and bottling to direct sale. The family has bottled its own quality wines for approximately 40 years.

A historic cellar-master’s manual preserves evidence of the estate’s longstanding winemaking practice. Before the 20th century, wine was stored and matured exclusively in wooden barrels and was already shipped outside the province.

The present cellar combines concrete and stainless-steel structures with modern technology. Wood nevertheless remains central: the estate’s highest-grade wines mature exclusively in wooden casks. Cellar work is intended to preserve and further develop the quality established in the vineyard, with creativity and precision presented as complementary working principles.

Across the collection, the estate uses both large and smaller oak vessels, stainless-steel tanks and, for at least one wine, concrete. Depending on the wine, its published processes include destemming and crushing, temperature-controlled alcoholic fermentation in stainless steel, skin maceration, malolactic fermentation, maturation in oak, blending before bottling and filtration. These operations are wine-specific rather than a single uniform protocol for the entire range.