News
28 Minute
Kellerei Bozen (Cantina Bolzano in Italian) is celebrating 40 years of Huck am Bach, its Alto Adige Santa Maddalena Classico DOC, with a special anniversary label priced at €12.70. The wine was first made in 1986 from the Huck am Bach farmstead in the Santa Maddalena (St. Magdalener) zone above Bolzano, in South Tyrol. With it, the then Cantina Santa Maddalena began naming its wines after the farms the grapes come from, a practice that today applies to every wine in Kellerei Bozen’s Election and Riserva ranges.
It is a maso, the traditional South Tyrolean farmstead. The same family has owned it since 1783, and its name comes from an old local surname. In 40 years the farm itself has barely changed. The generation has: today Hannes Plattner, cousin of Kellerei Bozen’s president Philipp Plattner, looks after the steep vineyards around it.
The vineyards lie between 250 and 500 metres above sea level, on gravelly soils rich in porphyry. Days are warm and sunny, and cool air flows down from the surrounding valleys. The slopes are so steep that all vineyard work still happens by hand.
The wine comes from a field blend of Schiava (known in German as Vernatsch) and Lagrein, two native grape varieties of South Tyrol. Kellerei Bozen vinifies the grapes traditionally and ages the wine in large oak casks.
Santa Maddalena is the red wine of the hills just above Bolzano. Under the Alto Adige DOC production regulations it must contain at least 85% Schiava, with up to 15% of other red varieties authorised in the province, usually Lagrein. Classico refers to the historic heart of the appellation. Local growers founded its protection consortium on 19 March 1923 at the Untermoser farmstead near Bolzano, a year before the Chianti consortium was set up.
In 1986 Graziano Filippi, winemaker at what was then Cantina Santa Maddalena, oversaw the creation of the wine. In 1988 his son Stephan Filippi succeeded him, and he is now Kellerei Bozen’s winemaker. Stephan knows exactly what he wants from it: “For me, HUCK AM BACH should not be exuberant, but fine; not full-bodied, but harmonious. The aim is not to reinvent the wine, but to reveal its full potential, vintage after vintage.”
Schiava brings lightness, delicate fruit and juiciness. The small share of Lagrein adds colour, depth and structure. On the nose there is cherry, raspberry, violet and rose, with the bitter almond and marzipan notes typical of Santa Maddalena. The palate is full, smooth and long. The winery suggests pairing it with Italian antipasti, Speck Alto Adige, pizza and full-flavoured dishes.
Kellerei Bozen was formed in 2001 from the merger of Cantina Santa Maddalena and Cantina Gries. Today this cooperative winery brings together 224 grower families farming 350 hectares between 200 and 1,000 metres, in Gries, Moritzing, Siebeneich, Missian, St. Georgen, Glaning, St. Magdalena, St. Justina, Leitach, Ritten and Karneid. Its home is the CasaClima Wine building, a climate-certified winery on the edge of Bolzano.
President Philipp Plattner ties the anniversary to the winery’s two native grapes: “Santa Maddalena is probably one of the finest expressions of Schiava and an important part of Kellerei Bozen’s tradition. We place great value on our two native varieties and see considerable potential for both in the future.”
For the anniversary, Kellerei Bozen decided against bringing back the historic Bocksbeutel bottle, which stays in the archive, and dressed the wine in a commemorative label instead. The recommended retail price is €12.70, from wine shops and specialist retailers in Italy and from the winery’s online shop. For a single-farm Santa Maddalena Classico, in our view it is one of the most direct ways to understand what Schiava can do on this hillside.
Huck am Bach is an Alto Adige Santa Maddalena Classico DOC made by Kellerei Bozen from Schiava and Lagrein. First produced in 1986 from the farmstead of the same name above Bolzano, it turns 40 in 2026 and Kellerei Bozen is marking the anniversary with a special label.
The farmstead lies in the Santa Maddalena zone on the hillside above Bolzano, with steep vineyards between 250 and 500 metres on gravelly, porphyry-rich soils. The same family has owned it since 1783, and Hannes Plattner farms it today.
Schiava, also called Vernatsch, with a small share of Lagrein, grown together as a field blend. Kellerei Bozen vinifies the grapes traditionally and ages the wine in large oak casks.
It is the red wine from the historic core of the Santa Maddalena appellation, on the hills above Bolzano. The Alto Adige DOC regulations require at least 85% Schiava and allow up to 15% other red varieties, usually Lagrein. Its consortium dates from 1923.
Stephan Filippi, winemaker at Kellerei Bozen, has been responsible for the wine since 1988. Before him came his father Graziano Filippi, winemaker at the former Cantina Santa Maddalena, who oversaw its creation in 1986.
The recommended retail price of Huck am Bach with the special label is €12.70. It is available from wine shops and specialist retailers in Italy and from the Kellerei Bozen online shop, shop.kellereibozen.com.
Kellerei Bozen recommends it with Italian antipasti, Speck Alto Adige, pizza and full-flavoured dishes. On the nose it shows cherry, raspberry, violet and rose, with notes of bitter almond and marzipan.
Kellerei Bozen, or Cantina Bolzano https://www.kellereibozen.com/it/, is the cooperative winery formed in 2001 from the merger of Cantina Santa Maddalena and Cantina Gries. It brings together 224 grower families with 350 hectares of vineyards around Bolzano, between 200 and 1,000 metres.
For information, images and press materials on Kellerei Bozen and the 40th anniversary of Huck am Bach, please contact PR Comunicare il Vino Contact us, which handles media relations for the winery.
