From vision to legend: the birth of Sauvignon Riserva Gran Lafóa

Konrad Schweigkofler decided to plant Sauvignon after tasting an aged French example in the mid-1980s. At the end of the decade he established French clones in a sunny, dry moraine-soil vineyard above Cornaiano. His nephew Ulrich Prast formally assumed responsibility in 2018 after working with him for more than ten years. The cooperative’s agronomist and Martin Lemayr identified the oldest vines as a distinct resource, leading to a two-pass harvest and separate vinification. Those vines have deeper roots, require less water and are less affected by stress. Prast now replaces diseased plants individually while managing the effects of esca, changing climate and new pests. Their fruit formed the inaugural Gran Lafóa project.