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Free Winegrowers South Tyrol

The regional winegrowers' association (FWS, Italian: Vignaioli dell'Alto Adige) in South Tyrol was founded in 1999 by 12 winegrowers. Members are family wineries and cellars with producer bottling in South Tyrol. It is not a winegrowers' cooperative, but an association of self-marketing winegrowers. They are comparable to the VDP (Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates). The main objectives are to promote traditional viticulture and South Tyrolean wine culture, and to represent and support the member wineries. This includes activities in wine industry committees, advice on wine law and technical matters, organisation of joint presentations and advertising, training courses, information trips, newsletters, and regular publication of a winery guide.

The foundation has historical reasons. Winegrowing in South Tyrol reached a high level from the late Middle Ages during the Habsburg period, when South Tyrol was part of the Imperial and Royal Austrian Empire and later became part of the Habsburg Empire. Empire of Austria and later to the imperial and royal monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Due to the emergence of wine trading families and the cellar cooperatives in the 19th century, many winegrowers (except in the areas of St. Magdalena, Burggrafenamt near Merano and Überetsch) gave up pressing and marketing their wines themselves. From the 1980s onwards, a contrary movement began, when more and more farmers started to vinify and market their wines themselves again. This then led to the founding of the Free Winegrowers of South Tyrol.

Membership grew rapidly to 90 farms by the end of 2013. A "map of the wineries", first published in 2002, contains all the important information. They cultivate about 300 hectares of vineyards, which is 5% of South Tyrol's vineyards. According to their own definition on the FWS website, "the members authentically shape the entire production process - from the vine to the glass". Michael Goëss-Enzenberg serves as president, Peter Robatscher as full-time director. The annual wine presentation "Vinea Tirolensis" has been held since 2000. In 2003, the first presentation outside South Tyrol was held in Rome. In 2005 it took place in Merano with 17 VDP wineries from the Palatinate as guests. At the 8th "Vinea Tirolensis", 8 Austrian wineries from the Vinea Wachau Nobilis Districtus association were present as guests. In 2006, an event was held in Munich for the first time in Germany. Finally, in 2009 the Free Winegrowers of South Tyrol became a member of the European Confederation of Independent Winegrowers (CEVI) through the national association FIVI. See also under Viticultural Institutions.

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Dr. Christa Hanten

For my many years of work as an editor with a wine and culinary focus, I always like to inform myself about special questions at Wine lexicon. Spontaneous reading and following links often leads to exciting discoveries in the wide world of wine.

Dr. Christa Hanten
Fachjournalistin, Lektorin und Verkosterin, Wien

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