The "Weingut / Klosterkellerei Muri-Gries" is located in Gries near Bolzano in the Italian wine-growing region of South Tyrol ( Trentino-South Tyrol region). The origins of today's monastery date back to 1845, when Benedictine monks from Muri in the Swiss canton of Aargau took over the Augustinian canons' monastery in Gries, which had already been dissolved by that time. In addition to the Muri-Gries vineyard, the monastery also manages orchards, a mountain farm in Kampidell near Jenesien and a monastery nursery. For a long time, the wine produced by the monastery was mainly used for its own needs. Christian Werth is the managing director and oenologist.
From the beginning of the 1960s, wine was also bottled for the first time. The vineyards comprise 35 hectares of self-owned vines, with grapes from a further 20 hectares supplied by contracted farmers. The centrepiece is single vineyard Klosteranger, which is surrounded by old stone walls and was included in the Austro-Hungarian cadastre in 1901. The soils consist of material washed up by the Talfer River on a subsoil of Bolzano quartz porphyry.
The red wine varieties Lagrein, Blauburgunder (Pinot Noir), Rosenmuskateller, Vernatsch (Schiava Grossa) and Grauvernatsch (Schiava Grigia) are cultivated and processed to 80%, and the white wine varieties Weißburgunder (Pinot Blanc), Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Silvaner and Sauvignon (Sauvignon Bl anc) to 20%. Lagrein, the most important variety with 80%, is especially cultivated. For new plantings of Lagrein, only biotypes from our own selection are used. The vineyards are cultivated according to the methods of natural, integrated viticulture with low vine stress and gentle intervention on plant growth and the environment.
The wines are produced in the two lines Muri-Gries and Abtei Muri as DOC Südtiroler, Kalterersee, St. Magdalener and Terlaner Weißburgunder. They are fermented in steel tanks and, depending on the wine type, aged in stainless steel, in large wooden barrels or in barriques. The premium wines include Lagrein Riserva Abtei Muri, Kalterersee Auslese Classico (Vernatsch) and Terlaner Weißburgunder Riserva. All wines can be tasted and purchased in the monastery's own wine shop. The winery is a member of the association "Weingüter Südtirols".
