2025

First Class

In contrast to recent years, we saw rather cool weather in 2025. That, along with regular rainfall, makes us think of the mid-1990s vintages. The wines are a bit lighter in alcohol with lively freshness, and even while young show good drinkability.

Taking Stock of the Year
Following a dry winter, rain began to fall regularly in spring, and promoted growth in the vineyards. In May, there were days that began under thick fog, almost as if it we had reached fall already. Yet, during the day things tended to really warm up. Overall, the nights remained cool and pleasant.
As persistent as the rains fell, so too did fungi show up on the vines. In the early stages, we always face an enormous risk of fungal diseases that infect leaves and fruit buds and can rob us of a chunk of the harvest. The gentler resources we use in organic plant management are not as potent, making it nearly impossible to ward off a fungal attack.
The thing that helped us this time was a swing in weather in June, which brought midsummer temperatures and the first heatwave. On some days, the mercury spiked as much as 20 degrees Celsius (68 F) within a few hours.
In contrast, July wa sat times cool and the usually dry eastern end of Austria received plenty of consistent rainfall which benefits vegetation and the water table. At the beginning of August, the landscape turned a lovely green and the long-awaited summer finally showed itself.
It was but a brief interlude as then in the final stretch of ripening, heavy rains hit under this unstable weather pattern that lasted well into September. At that point, ripening grapes can’t hold up to such conditions, and careful harvesting is necessary to ensure that undamaged and healthy grapes make it into the cellar.

The Final Show
As one of the few wineries that still harvests by hand, we choose to do so as the only way to guarantee the highest quality. A second selection takes place in the cellar using an optical sorting machine that gives us even further confidence heading into the pressing. Literally every grape gets a once-over.

The 2025 vintage produced wines that are slightly lighter in alcohol, yet show fine fruit aromas, good concentration and tension, along with beautiful minerality, savoriness, and a fullness on the palate.