Person of the Month: Philipp Plattner
Person of the Month: Philipp Plattner
Cantina’s Bolzano-Kellerei Bozen President Philipp Plattner, a farmer and viticulturist from Bolzano, graduated from the University of Padua. He has worked in various regions of France, Germany, and in the laboratories of the Laimburg Experimentation Center. Now, he applies his experience and acquired skills to Cantina Bolzano-Kellerei Bozen.
Mr. Plattner, how did your passion for viticulture come about?
I was born into a family of farmers and winegrowers, so I was always in close contact with nature, and I was strongly influenced by it. In this industry, family and work are closely connected. Work comes first, but there is always a family behind it. I have learned that nature gives its fruits and rewards only if we listen to it and submit to it. Only then can we demand from it what sustains us. It is nature that tells us what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. Sometimes it is a relationship filled with emotions and also tiring; on one hand, it constrains you, but on the other hand, it also gives you freedom. Sometimes it brings great worries, but in return, it brings deep feelings of happiness.
Where, then, does one find the strength to continue?
Nature is powerful, and a winemaker needs all the strength he can get. That strength can be found in one's family when they understand and support this special relationship with nature, but also in organizations beyond one's own family, such as cooperatives. Our farm, like many other strong farms, is part of several cooperatives. The most visible is certainly the Bolzano Cooperative Winery, which refines the grapes and markets the wines. All operational advice is shared with other winemakers, and without the cooperation, even irrigation would be impossible.
What are the advantages of belonging to a cooperative?
A cooperative is a living community of values, with the economic purpose of refining agricultural products better than one could alone. As a child, I was always fascinated by cooperative wineries: the joint conferring of grapes, the many tractors, the beautiful cellars with their size and numerous barrels, the work of the cellar master, and how he tastes wine samples in the wine laboratory. In my youth, when I began to understand the processes, I struggled with many of the compromises that a cooperative winery must make. But over time, I realized that these compromises are necessary and represent improvements to individual ideas because thinking together is better than thinking alone.
How do you see the future of the cooperative system?
In today’s world, people are constantly exposed to change and must decide how—and whether—to react to it. Doing this as a cooperative means sharing many things and involving all members. So, I am convinced that together we can better and more calmly cope with the rapid changes that our time presents.
Favorite wine?
My favorite everyday wine is St. Magdalener, for sure. For special moments when time and sensations can be savored, I indulge in a Lagrein Taber.
Image: Philipp Plattner, President of Cantina Bolzano-Kellerei Bozen, Courtesy Cantina Bolzano-Kellerei Bozen