The regional group PIWI South Tyrol
Executive Board
- Thomas Niedermayr – President info@thomas-niedermayr.com
- Johannes Meßner – Vice President
- Manager Andreas – cashier
- Michael Gamper
- Patrick Uccelli
- Anna Morandell
- Simon Lemayr
Become a member - PIWI South Tyrol membership application
Social Media:
Facebook: @piwisuedtirol
Instagram: @piwitrentino

20 years of PIWI South Tyrol
...must be celebrated! That's why we cordially invite you to come
PIWI Symposium on November 30, 2023 in the NOI Techpark in Bolzano a.
You can expect interesting lectures on the breeding of new varieties, new findings and developments on the acceptance and marketing of PIWI varieties, as well as exciting panel discussions with renowned, international speakers from Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. We offer a colorful supporting program with tastings new and well-known varieties and sufficient opportunities for exchange.
8:30 Welcome and introduction to the event
Thomas Niedermayr, PIWI South Tyrol
8:40 Greetings from the guests of honor
8:55 20 years of Piwi in South Tyrol Founding members PIWI South Tyrol
9:15 Overview of the testing of fungus-tolerant grape varieties at the Laimburg experimental center
Josef Terleth, Laimburg Experimental Center
9:35 Status of the breeding program at the Julius Kühn Institute, Institute for Vine Breeding Geilweilerhof after almost 100 years of quality and resistance breeding
Reinhard Töpfer, Julius Kühn Institute, Institute for Vine Breeding Geilweilerhof
10:10 break
10:30 INRAE-ResDur: the French grapevine breeding program for durable resistance to downy and powdery mildew
Pere Mestre, INRAE
11:05 breeding and other opportunities for other resistances: the futuro sostenibile
Riccardo Velasco, CREA-VE
11:30 Resistant varieties: new perspectives for a more sustainable viticulture
Elisa De Luca, VIVAI COOPERATIVI RAUSCEDO
11:45 Discussion on new varieties and new possibilities of breeding
Pere Mestre, Rein hard Töpfer, Silvia Vezzulli, Riccardo Velasco, Elisa De Luca
Moderation: Carlo Andreotti
12:30 lunch break with open tasting of PIWI wines of new and well-known varieties
13:45 Oenological implementation of innovative wine styles from PIWI varieties
Ulrich Fischer, DLR Rheinpfalz
14:20 PIWIS in Austria: Current situation, trends, marketing
Wolfgang Renner, PIWI Austria
2:45 p.m. break
15:15 PIWIs in a marketing context – presentation of the results from the VitiFIT project
Christoph Kiefer, Geisenheim University
3:40 p.m. PIWI marketing: Innovative grape varieties need innovative communication
Olivier Geissbühler, Delinat
16:05 Future wines
Eva Vollmer, Eva Vollmer wines
16:30 SUWIR project at the University of Bozen: Towards sustainable viticulture: wines from resistant grape varieties in South Tyrol
Emanuele Boselli, Federica Viganò, Guido Orzes
5:00 p.m. Final discussion on the “PIWI” brand and marketing
Olivier Geissbühler, Gergely Szolnoki, Eva Vollmer, Alexander Morandell, Wolfgang Renner, Ulrich Fischer, Federica Viganò, Boselli Emanuele
5:45 p.m. Closing of the event
Thomas Niedermayr, PIWI South Tyrol
6:00 p.m. Open tasting of PIWI wines of new and well-known varieties, light dinner and an open conclusion with music

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Latest News
3rd PIWI SUMMIT – Monday, November 6th at 6:00 p.m
Please join us for the
3rd PIWI Summit on Monday, November 6th at 6 p.m
The PIWI Summit will take place online again and in English.
Our topics:
The situation of PIWI genotypes in Portugal with Jorge Boehm Portugal
Maximum stomatal conductance rather than stomatal sensitivity to drought differentiates the PIWI grapevine cultivar Souvignier gris from Muscaris and Donau Riesling with Lea Linhart Austria for documentation
Staffelter Hof presents its Vitiforst project –
Trees between PIWI wines for climate improvement. – more –
We mainly planted our Piwi varieties on 6 hectares of land, which is where the Viti Forest project “I.Kant & the Piwis” is now being created.
On the last weekend in November we will plant the majority of the trees, hedges and sow seeds for a more resilient future of viticulture, better resistance to climate fluctuations, more biodiversity and a more resilient ecosystem. more about the project
Connecting the Community Worldwide with PIWI Talk
Our member and regional representative for Canada Darcy S. O’Neil has started a PIWI TALK. He will present it to us at the PIWI Summit. You can get a first impression here: https://www.piwitalk.com/
Free webinars on the nutritional table & e-labels with Holger Kiefer and Winestro
DATES: Thursday September 7th, 2023 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Thursday November 9th, 2023 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m
The introduction of the e-label is getting closer and closer: We are therefore offering free webinars on the topic for everyone in the wine industry. On these dates, I will explain to you exactly from the point of view of a lawyer specializing in wine law what there is to consider about nutritional declarations and e-labels, and the Winestro.Cloud team will present the most important points on how you can deal with the topic for you in the coming year can solve the problem technically in a relaxed manner.
PIWI WINZER STAMMTISCH always on the last Monday of the month!
The desire to have an opportunity for informal exchange with fellow winegrowers has already been expressed several times. There should now be a digital winemaker regulars’ table for this. We cordially invite you, themselves on the last Monday of every monthats at 6:00 p.m. for an exchange in the virtual room. The regulars' table will organized alternately by different national groupsto shed light on the diverse facets of our association.
Next digital get-together on Monday the . August 2023 at 6 p.m. in German with a focus on Austria.
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86879712269?pwd=ZG4vSUtMR2Q2SC9ZbEMyb09PVW1kdz09
Meeting ID 868 7971 2269
Registration is not required.
The other regulars’ table dates as well as all dates on the subject of PIWI can be found in our Calendar on website.
Cooperation with wein.plus: Benefit as a member of PIWI-International!
There is a cooperation between PIWI International and wein.plus that aims to promote the association and its members on wein.plus. In this webinar, which lasts no more than 10 minutes, Utz Graafmann will show how you as a winery can benefit from this.
Tuesday, February 14, 2023 at 6 p.m. (the webinar will be recorded)
Sell wine successfully with wein.plus for wineries
Find out how you, as a winery, can maximize your wine sales, find stockists across Europe and get support in the sales process. Learn methods to increase the visibility of your winery on wein.plus and increase your sales figures. Use wein.plus to bring additional visitors to your winery or to advertise events.
Language: German
Duration: 20 minutes
PIWIs, sheep and alpine climate
In South Tyrol, winegrowers rely on resistant varieties - and they are successful
Benefit from the PIWI boom - podcast from the art of selling wine with Alexander Morandell
In diesem Interview spricht Diego mit dem derzeitigen Präsidenten von PIWI International und Rebveredler Alexander Morandell über das Vermarktungspotenzial der neuen Rebsorten und ihre ökonomischen und gesellschaftlichen Auswirkungen auf den Weinbau.