Family

Our history – an Alto Adige vintner family

Martin Foradori Hofstätter took over the winery from his parents in 1992. Together with his wife, he embarked on an era of modernisation and expansion of the winery. Built in 1998, the cellar tower has become an unobtrusive but nevertheless defining feature of the Tramin village alongside the imposing parish steeple tower. With great vision and entrepreneurial spirit, Martin Foradori Hofstätter increasingly expands the family estate. In 2014, he acquired the Weingut Dr. Fischer in Germany’s Mosel wine region. With this, he realised a long-cherished dream of having world-class Riesling sites at his disposal.
More recently, in 2017, he expanded to Trentino, the home of his ancestors. He purchased the Maso Michei farmstead in the Valle di Ronchi, a fascinating mountain area above the town of Ala. Today, Tenuta J. Hofstätter is one of Alto Adige’s largest family wine estates with unique, outstanding vineyards. Our family has always shaped the winery and we too, are equally shaped by the winery. Our three children have grown up in the everyday life of our family business. After finishing their studies and gaining important work experience, they are eager to shape the future of the winery. We are looking forward to this joint challenge!

 

Vintner family Alto Adige – J. Hofstätter in Tramin
Vintner family Alto Adige – J. Hofstätter in Tramin
Vintner family Alto Adige – J. Hofstätter in Tramin
Vintner family Alto Adige – J. Hofstätter in Tramin
Vintner family Alto Adige – J. Hofstätter in Tramin
Vintner family Alto Adige – J. Hofstätter in Tramin
Family history

married in 1959. Paolo, son of a winemaking family from Trentino, brought the Barthenau, Oberyngram, Unteryngram, and Oberkerschbaum farmsteads into the family estate. Sieglinde, the only daughter of Konrad and Luise Oberhofer, was heiress to Tenuta J. Hofstätter in Tramin. Together, Sieglinde and Paolo steered the fortune of the family business for many decades. In 1987, Paolo Foradori introduced the classification of a single-vineyard wine as a Vigna for the first time in Alto Adige with the vinification of the Pinot Nero “Vigna S. Urbano”. He thus made a significant contribution to the success of this grape variety, in the Mazon vineyard, in Alto Adige, and throughout Italy.

Josef Hofstätter’s long-time employee and Maria Hofstätter’s niece married and took over the fate of the winery soon after the death of the winery founder. As one of the pioneers of the Alto Adige wine industry, Konrad Oberhofer ceased to rely on cask wine sales and bottled wines at the estate. He also initiated vinification of the grapes in separate charges according to their origin. In doing so, he laid the foundation for Tenuta J. Hofstätter’s single-vineyard philosophy.

The trained locksmith operated an inn in Tramin together with his industrious wife Maria and also made wine in their cellar. Business-minded and far-sighted, he founded the winery in 1907 and also successfully traded in wine. When Josef Hofstätter died childless in 1942, Maria Hofstätter continued to operate the business. She was supported by Konrad Oberhofer, her husband’s dearest employee and confidant.

Vintner family Alto Adige – J. Hofstätter in Tramin