Franz Gojer is a master of Schiava and Lagrein. These two varietals which find their homes in the northern reaches of the Alto Adige are about as far from the mainstream as you can get, but each is a truly unique and vibrant example of the best that this mountainous region can produce.

Franz  inherited his winery in 1982. Called Glögglhof, it is located on a small hill just north of the town of Bolzano in the center of the Santa Maddalena appellation. He has six hectares of vineyards with an additional two that he leases. From these vineyards he produces about 45,000 bottles per year. The vineyards are all located on fairly steep hillsides with the vines trained in the traditional Pergola system. For the Schiava, they plant mainly on well aerated sandy soils, while the Lagrein is planted on stony, alluvial soils in the wash of the Isarco River. All the vineyards have a fair amount of volcanic porphyry rocks interspersed with chunks of granite and gneiss.