Mock
Coste di Bolzano
Wine growers with foresight.
The Mockhof is located at an altitude of about 500 meters in the Isarco Valley, where we sometimes get pretty cold winds. That’s ideal for the grapes for our white wine, which need some cooling in the night and warmth during the day. Originally we only had red varieties. But then, in the 1970s, I planted the first one hundred Sauvignon vines. Everybody thought I was crazy: “Mock is mad,” is what they said, “that won’t work here.” But it did, and how! We finished up with a super wine, and today we only have white varieties, mainly Sauvignon, on all our sites.
You need ideas.
In the meantime my son Armin does almost all the work, and I help him as much as I can. He’s like me, never satisfied with the way things are. He always has ideas for improvements. For example, the small vineyard tractor, which I helped develop over a period of ten years. Armin uses it on the steep terraces and can turn almost on the spot without it tipping over. A company has even gone into small series production with it.
My ancestors would be surprised.
Armin Platter: Our farm is ancient. It’s mentioned in old documents dated 1275. Things were quite different in those days: Our ancestors had to fight, fight and fight again against all the challenges of nature. As a young wine grower, my father had to carry the soil back up the hill every spring that the rain had washed down in the course of the year. Today there’s vegetation cover on our vineyards. That helps prevent erosion and is good for the bees at the same time. We sow yellow mustard, oats and clover. Being a wine grower is not just a job like any other. You have to love nature and have a passion for tradition. If my ancestors could see me today on the vineyard tractor, they’d be surprised and delighted.
