Bolzano, Italy (January 18, 2021) – The Consortium of Alto Adige Wine, the association of all of the important players in the Alto Adige wine industry, has a new president. At the first meeting of the new board of directors, Andreas Kofler, president of Cantina Kurtatsch, was named as the successor to Maximilian Niedermayr. Martin Foradori of the J. Hofstätter Estate Winery remains vice president.
Niedermayr, who had held the office of president of the Consortium longer than originally intended as a result of the coronavirus, did not run again. “Over the last several years, he did enormously valuable work to build up the Consortium, and he got the timetable going with the sustainability agenda for the future of the Alto Adige wine industry,” says the newly-elected Kofler. “On top of that, he shaped the Consortium into an important pillar in these times that have been so difficult for the wine industry.”
Kofler, who calls himself a “wine connoisseur,” is not only a fruit grower and winegrower in Cortaccia, he also works as an instructor in practice at the Technical College for Fruticulture, Viticulture, and Horticulture in Laimburg and has been the president of Cantina Kurtatsch for seven years. He has been in charge of the Alto Adige Winery Association for three years, and he has been a member of the board of directors of the Consortium for six years. “Over the course of those years, I gained insight into the activity of the Consortium and also formed a clear idea of the direction in which the journey should proceed,” Kofler said.
As main focuses of the next few years, he names overcoming the pandemic-related crisis, the conclusion and further development of the delimitation of vineyard areas, and a strengthening of sales on the national market and of exports by means of a further improvement of the image of Alto Adige. “That includes sharpening the identity of Alto Adige wine even further, solidifying our role as a producer of top-quality red wines and as the best white wine region in Italy, and communicating that more strongly at the international level,” the new president explained.
“The Consortium will also continue to provide the framework for a sustainable and high qualitative development of Alto Adige winegrowing operations of all sizes,” he noted. In order to do so, work will continue further on visions for the future of the Alto Adige wine industry and their implementation. “We are now the central platform for all those who play a role in winegrowing and in the wine industry,” Kofler added. “And one task of that platform is also to create the broadest possible base for the wine culture.”
Elected as Andreas Kofler’s deputy as president of the Consortium of Alto Adige Wine was once again Martin Foradori (J. Hofstätter Estate Winery, Tramin), who is also president of the Alto Adige Estate Wineries. He has served the role of vice president since the founding of the Consortium in 2007. “Of all of the agricultural products from Alto Adige, wine is the one with the most sustainable image,” Foradori emphasized. “That shows that we have already achieved a great deal, but we do not wish to
Konsortium Südtirol Wein – Crispistraße 15, 39100 Bozen tel. 0471 978528 info@suedtirolwein.com www.suedtirolwein.com Consorzio Vini Alto Adige – Via Crispi 15, 39100 Bolzano fax 0471 326842 info@vinialtoadige.com www.vinialtoadige.com
rest upon our laurels. After all, we are only at the beginning of an exciting development.” In addition to Kofler as president and Foradori as vice president, Hannes Baumgartner (Strasserhof), Michael Bradlwarter (Bolzano Winery), Christian Sinn (Cantina Kaltern), and Peter Zemmer (Peter Zemmer Estate Winery) were all once again elected to the board of directors. That body now also has four new members: Georg Eyrl (Cantina Terlano), Clemens Lageder (Alois Lageder Estate Winery), Klaus Pardatscher (Cantina Produttori San Michele Appiano), and Stefan Vaja (Glassier Estate Winery).
