If you watch German television, then you already recognize the Kreithof in San Michele-Appiano. Without a doubt. It plays a central role in the detective show Bozen Krimi. This is where Inspector Sonja Schwarz, one of the main characters, lives. In real life, the Kreithof is a winegrowing operation filled with tradition whose roots date back to the Middle Ages.

At that time, a farm was created on a cleared space (in Middle High German, Gereuth) on a hill above San Michele-Appiano, the name of which little by little came under the influences of dialect until it was transformed into “Kreit”. And the way it looks is also different than it was back then. In the eighteenth century, the farmhouse was expanded into a magnificent manor, with the house occupied and the land worked by the Raifer family since 1813.

Aside from how the farmhouse looks, the economic pillars of the farm have always included winegrowing from the very start. So today, Johann Raifer runs seven hectares of vineyard area. “By far the largest part of our grapevines grow at somewhat higher than 400 meters above sea level on sandy-loamy moraine soils around our farmhouse,” Raifer explains. Just one smaller vineyard that belongs to the Kreithof is located in the vicinity of Lake Caldaro.

A broad palette of grape varieties is planted that ranges from Pinot Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc to Yellow Muscat and Goldmuskateller to Schiava, Pinot Noir, and Lagrein. And we are certain that you also know this wine, the wine from the Kreithof in San Michele-Appiano. At the very least from TV.