On 19 March 1923, the St. Magdalena Winegrowers’ Cooperative was founded in the Untermoser Inn to protect local wine production. Even then, the main task of this organisation was to protect the marketing of wines under the Santa Maddalena label. For this purpose, the geographical denomination ‘vino Santa Maddalena’ was created to protect the brand itself, with the help of the rules of the specifications. The Consortium for the Protection of Santa Maddalena is considered the first association for the protection of a designation of origin in Italy.
Only in 1924, for example, did the Consortium for the Protection of Chianti in Tuscany follow.
The Schiava variety has had a strong influence on South Tyrol and the local wine industry.
The Santa Maddalena area and the wine of the same name have been and are the most obvious expression of this.
The most interesting question, however, remains the future. Hardly any other variety arouses as much passionate discussion in South Tyrol as Schiava. Although the cultivated area is in sharp decline, a wide range of interpretations of this authochtonous South Tyrolean grape variety has opened up in recent years.
The producers of the St. Magdalener Consortium are the guiding lights for inspiration.
The new generation reflects on its heritage and, thanks to an open approach, manages to find a balance between the preservation of traditional winemaking methods and new, sometimes audacious interpretations.
100 years after the first meeting to form the St. Magdalener Winegrowers’ Cooperative, the cultivation area around the St. Magdalener hill remains a vibrant centre of winegrowing in South Tyrol and a benchmark for Schiava. In recent years, the consortium has been renewed and rejuvenated in terms of both content and personnel, and is facing the demands of modernity.
President Josephus Mayr says: ‘We are grateful to the pioneers of the past who recognised the importance of protecting the origin of St. Magdalener. It is our mission and obligation to continue working on the quality of our wines under the Santa Maddalena label in the name of their ideals’.
Further informations: www.magdalener.wine