PFANNENSTIELHOF
Alto Adige / Südtirol, Italy
Veronika shows me the intricately carved barrel head, depicting her grandfather holding a wine glass on his 50th birthday in 1975. Standing behind his shoulder is a young Johannes, her father, the winemaker here for the next many decades. And now, to his left, stands Veronika Pfeifer, the next generation of winemaker in this eight-generation legacy of St. Magdalener.
Pfannenstielhof was first mentioned in 1561, and has been owned by the Pfeifer family since 1816. Veronika, like her ancestors, grew up in and still lives in the house, which neatly separates the family’s vineyards of Lagrein and Vernatsch on their preferred soil types. Vernatsch thrives on the moraine rubble soils to the north, and the Lagrein develops bright fruit character on the alluvial, sandy soils to the south.
The classic district for the famous St. Magdalener wines of Bolzano, this plateau is famous for Vernatsch and Lagrein, the two indigenous red varieties of Südtirol, and the blend of the two, eponymously named “St. Magdalener”.
