Private Experiences with Franz Lageder
Food & Wine Tours in South Tyrol & the Dolomites
Journey Through Time, Tradition & Terrain
A Sommelier’s South Tyrol, Shared With You
Discover the flavors of South Tyrol and the Dolomites with Franz Lageder, a certified South Tyrolean Gourmet Ambassador and former head sommelier at the 5-star Relais & Châteaux Hotel Grödnerhof in Ortisei.
On a private half- or full-day tour, Franz reveals the people, places and traditions behind South Tyrol’s remarkable food and wine culture.
With Franz handling the driving, including pickup and drop-off at your accommodation, you’re free to relax and find out how much there is to savor beyond the mountain views.
Remarkable Places. Delicious Possibilities.
Choose from the private experiences below, each bringing together a different side of the region’s food, drink and traditions. Submit your request and we’ll confirm availability, pricing and pickup arrangements.
Every tour includes private guiding with Franz, pickup and drop-off at your accommodation, and all tasting fees. Private tours are available for 2–8 guests.
“A remarkable day filled with great wonder, great tales, great wine and drink and the great company of Franz.”Richard Greenberg · Google Review
Signature Private Food & Wine Experiences
PRIVATE AUTUMN EVENING
Experience Törggelen: A Centuries-old Harvest Feast
Pull up a chair for South Tyrol’s most delicious autumn tradition. Törggelen is a centuries-old harvest celebration where local farmers share the season’s new wine with neighbors over a grand feast in the farm’s cozy “Stube”.
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With Franz as your guide, you’ll visit a local farm and begin with a tasting of speck — South Tyrol’s signature cured, lightly smoked ham — and regional cheeses before settling in for a traditional Törggelen feast.
Menus vary, but typical dishes include barley soup, Schlutzkrapfen (half-moon pasta filled with spinach and fresh cheese, served with brown butter), dumplings, pork ribs and smoked sausages with sauerkraut. Roasted chestnuts and sweet Krapfen pastries round out the meal. Alongside local wines, the season offers a chance to sample young wine and Süßer, the sweet grape must from the autumn harvest.
Franz handles the driving, including pickup and drop-off at your accommodation, so you can relax and enjoy the evening.
Seasonal availability: Offered through December 10, 2026.
Duration: Approximately 5–6 hours, including transportation.
Price: $329 per person for a private group of 4
Available for 2–8 guests. Pricing varies by group size.
PRIVATE CHRISTMAS SEASON EXPERIENCE
Alpine Cheeses, Mountain Wines & Christmas in the Oldest Town in South Tyrol
Taste your way into the Christmas season. From artisan cheeses and mountain-grown wines to Glühwein beneath Brixen’s cathedral towers, this private experience brings together the region’s culinary traditions and the festive pleasures of one of its most beautiful towns.
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Your day begins at Capriz in Vandoies, where artisan cheese-making supports South Tyrol’s small local farms. Working with goat’s and cow’s milk sourced from regional farmers and their cooperatives, Capriz transforms local milk into distinctive cheeses. Explore the cheese museum and show dairy before enjoying a tasting.
Next, Franz brings you to Köfererhof, a family-run wine estate near Brixen with roots dating back to 976 — more than a thousand years ago. One of his personal favorites, this small estate produces expressive alpine white wines from steep, high-altitude vineyards in the Eisack Valley. Enjoy a guided tasting as Franz shares the stories behind the wines and the landscape that shapes them.
Then it’s time for Brixen’s Christmas market. Wooden stalls fill the cathedral square with seasonal crafts, festive decorations and the scent of Christmas baking. Enjoy mulled wine and cookies, with time to browse the stalls and take in the atmosphere of this historic town.
Franz handles the driving, including pickup and drop-off at your accommodation, so you can relax and enjoy the day.
Seasonal availability: Offered through January 6, 2027.
Duration: Approximately 6–7 hours, including transportation.
Price: $349 per person for a private group of 4
Available for 2–8 guests. Pricing varies by group size.
PRIVATE HANDS-ON GIN EXPERIENCE
Gin Masterclass IN THE dOLOMITES: Craft Your Own Alpine Spirit
Craft your own gin beneath Schlern, one of the Dolomites’ most recognizable landmarks. At Zu Plun, discover how mountain botanicals inspire distinctive alpine spirits, create your own recipe and enjoy lunch with a gin-and-tonic pairing before taking your creation home.
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With Franz as your guide, visit Zu Plun beneath the dramatic Schlern massif for a hands-on introduction to gin-making. Here, the surrounding landscape finds its way into the glass: the distillery’s Dol Gin features alpine herbs growing around Schlern, complemented by ingredients such as lemon from Lake Garda.
Explore the herbs, spices and other botanicals that give gin its character, then select a combination to create your own recipe. Working alongside the master distiller, follow your recipe through the distillation process and discover how those individual aromas come together in the finished spirit.
Afterward, sit down to lunch accompanied by a gin-and-tonic pairing. You’ll also take home your own gin — a personal souvenir with a connection to the mountains where you made it.
Franz handles the driving, including pickup and drop-off at your accommodation, so you can relax and enjoy the experience.
Duration: Approximately 8.5 hours, including transportation and a South Tyrolean lunch.
Price: $569 per person, based on a private group of 4.
Available for 2–8 guests. Pricing varies by group size.
PRIVATE FOOD, WINE & SPIRITS EXPERIENCE
From Butcher to Bottle: Savor Bold South Tyrolean Flavors
Follow South Tyrol’s appetite from the vineyard to the butcher’s counter and into the distillery. With Franz leading the way, taste wines shaped by volcanic soils, savor a lunch of regional specialties and discover how mountain-grown fruit becomes something worth sipping slowly.
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Your day begins at Cantina Terlano, in the wine village of Terlan between Bolzano and Merano. Here, vineyards rise against distinctive red porphyry rock, producing wines known for their freshness, complexity and mineral character. Enjoy a guided tour and tasting as Franz introduces the landscape and craftsmanship behind each glass.
Next, visit Hannes Mair, a traditional South Tyrolean butcher and gourmet shop, for lunch. This stop brings the region’s cured meats and hearty food traditions into focus, with Franz helping select regional specialties to suit your tastes.
The experience continues at Schwarz-Brennerei in the mountain village of Mölten. At this family-run distillery, South Tyrolean fruit is transformed into fruit brandies, grappas and other spirits. Learn about the distillation process before tasting a selection of their creations—a spirited finish to a day of bold flavors.
Franz handles the driving, including pickup and drop-off at your accommodation, so you can relax and enjoy the day.
Duration: Approximately 9 hours, including transportation.
Price: $429 per person, based on a private group of 4.
Available for 2–8 guests. Pricing varies by group size.
PRIVATE CHEESE, WINE & CHOCOLATE EXPERIENCE
A Day of Decadent Alpine Delights: Artisan Cheeses, CHocolate & Wine
Alpine cheese, monastery wines and artisan chocolate — South Tyrol rewards a healthy appetite. Join Franz for a day of tasting and discovery, meeting the flavors and traditions behind the region’s food culture, from small local farms to an abbey making wine for nearly 1,000 years.
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Your day begins at Capriz in Vandoies, where artisan cheese-making connects small South Tyrolean farms with the tasting table. Using goat’s and cow’s milk sourced from regional farmers and their cooperatives, Capriz creates distinctive cheeses rooted in the surrounding landscape. Explore the cheese museum and show dairy before enjoying a tasting.
Next, Franz brings you to the Abbey of Novacella, founded in 1142 and home to one of South Tyrol’s most historic wine estates. Set amid the vineyards of the cool Eisack Valley, the abbey offers a striking setting to discover the region’s alpine wines. Enjoy a guided wine experience and tasting accompanied by a traditional South Tyrolean snack.
The final stop is Karuna, an artisan bean-to-bar chocolate maker. Discover how organically grown cacao becomes small-batch chocolate, then explore its flavors through a guided tasting. It’s a sweet finish to a day that brings together three very different expressions of craftsmanship.
Franz handles the driving, including pickup and drop-off at your accommodation, so you can relax and enjoy the day.
Duration: Approximately 9 hours, including transportation.
Price: $439 per person, based on a private group of 4.
Available for 2–8 guests. Pricing varies by group size.
PRIVATE ALPINE EVENING
Mountain Spirits & Fondue at One of South Tyrol’s Most Beautiful Alpine Huts
Spend an evening savoring the Dolomites, beginning beneath Schlern with a tour of Zu Plun distillery and a gin-and-tonic aperitif. Then head up to Alpe di Siusi for a three-course fondue dinner with wine at Tirler Alm, one of South Tyrol’s most beautiful alpine huts.
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Your evening begins around 5 PM at Zu Plun beneath the dramatic Schlern massif. Tour the artisan distillery to discover the ingredients and craftsmanship behind its spirits, then enjoy a gin and tonic before Franz drives you up to Alpe di Siusi for dinner.
Around 7 PM, settle into Tirler Alm’s rustic, wood-paneled dining room. Voted “the most beautiful alpine hut in South Tyrol” by readers of the Dolomiten newspaper, Tirler is a welcoming place to spend an evening over good food and wine.
Start with Terlaner wine soup, followed by meat fondue served with hot broth for cooking each bite at the table. Dinner includes one bottle of red wine for every two guests, with plenty of time to enjoy the meal and company between pours.
For dessert, Heiße Liebe pairs vanilla ice cream with hot raspberries. Finish with a limoncello before the journey home.
Franz handles the driving, including pickup and drop-off at your accommodation, so you can enjoy the aperitif and dinner without worrying about the journey home.
Duration: Approximately 5-6 hours, including transportation.
Price: $439 per person, based on a private group of 4.
Available for 2–8 guests. Pricing varies by group size.
Private Castle, Wine & Spirits Experience
From Castle Walls to Cellar Doors: A Spirited Taste of South Tyrol
Your day begins at Runkelstein Castle near Bolzano, a fortress dating to 1237. Inside its nearly 800-year-old walls, frescoes painted more than six centuries ago reveal a world of knights, hunting parties and courtly romance. From these painted halls, Franz brings you to Dominikus winery, where you’ll savor wines in a stone cellar excavated by hand.
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Carved beneath the vineyard over more than 30 years, the cellar gives you plenty to marvel at between pours.
From here, Franz brings you to Zu Plun beneath the towering Schlern massif. At this artisan distillery, herbs growing around the mountain help give its Dol Gin a distinctly local character. Discover the ingredients and craftsmanship behind the spirits, then settle in for a tasting with the Dolomites just beyond the door.
Franz handles the driving, including pickup and drop-off at your accommodation, so you can enjoy every stop.
Duration: Approximately 7 hours, including transportation.
Price: $399 per person, based on a private group of 4.
Available for 2–8 guests. Pricing varies by group size.
PRIVATE HALF-DAY WINE EXPERIENCE
Explore South Tyrol’s Wine Road: Villages, Vines & Vintages
Discover South Tyrol one glass at a time along its celebrated Wine Road. With Franz as your guide, explore vineyard-lined villages, visit carefully selected wineries and taste the region’s expressive whites and reds, with a traditional platter of speck and alpine cheeses along the way.
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Your private half-day journey follows the South Tyrolean Wine Road, where vineyards surround historic villages and climb the slopes above the valley. Franz selects the winery stops around your tastes, timing and availability, drawing on his experience as a sommelier to introduce wines with a story to tell.
Visit tasting rooms and cellars to explore the region’s range, from fresh, mineral whites to elegant reds. Along the way, Franz explains how altitude, soils and the meeting of Alpine and Mediterranean climates shape what’s in your glass.
A traditional South Tyrolean specialty platter of speck and alpine cheeses accompanies the experience, giving you a taste of the food traditions that belong alongside these wines.
Franz handles the driving, including pickup and drop-off at your accommodation, so you can relax and enjoy the tastings.
Duration: Approximately 5 hours, including transportation.
Price: $349 per person, based on a private group of 4.
Available for 2–8 guests. Pricing varies by group size.
Have Something else in Mind?
REQUEST A PRIVATE CUSTOM EXPERIENCE
Have a favorite wine, a particular food obsession or somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit? Tell us what you’re craving.
We’ll work with Franz to shape a private experience around your interests, where you’re staying and the time you have available.
Duration: Tailored to your plans.
Price: Quoted for your experience.
What Guests Say About Franz
“Franz was the best tour guide. His expertise was incredible and he truly cared about giving us the best experience.”Amanda Forgione · Google Review
“We were able to see places that we never would’ve thought to see because of his connections in the area.”Maggie Schnell · Google Review
“It was a wonderful tour and a day with a wonderful guide. Money definitely well spent!”Carlos Duque · Google Review
“We had an amazing time with Franz! His expertise of the region, along with his warm friendliness and genuine passion elevated the entire tour.”Anna O’Connor · Google Review