Our Grüner Veltliner Gutswein is debuting a new name: Wagram Terrassen. With the change, our Wagram origins move more clearly into the spotlight.

We live in the eastern section of the Wagram, where loessy soils produce outstanding Grüner Veltliner. The Wagram is a terrace-shaped and remarkable ridge amidst the surrounding landscape. Visibility stretches as far as the Ötscher and Schneeberg mountains. Linguistically, the Wagram name derives from the Middle High German: “wac” for wave or welter, and “rain” for meadow or hillside. Here is where our spicy, deep Grüner Veltliner grows. Shaped by our loess soils, it is a classic ambassador for our Wagram home. After a year of advantageous weather conditions, the 2018 vintage has emerged as particularly rich.

A wine of yore: one-of-a-kind, rich in body and character — the taste of our newest wine.

In times past, vineyards were planted with a mix of varieties to avoid vintage-by-vintage fluctuations in any given variety. This traditional wine style is produced in our vineyard below a small forest with the ruins of a medieval wooden castle — hence the name “Unter der Burg”.
Eight different varieties – Grüner Veltliner, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Zierfandler, Rotgipfler and Neuburger – are grown, harvested and vinified here together. Following a period on the skins, the new wine spends almost a year resting on the lees in large oak barrels. The result: a field blend of beautiful concentration, complex texture, tremendous aging potential and a range of aromatics spanning from honey to ripe pear.

Vintage 2018: We completed harvest on September 24 — earlier than ever before.

2018 will deliver wines of rich, ripe fruit with a powerful structure. Our April was extremely warm, leading to an early and dynamic bud break, with a notable absence of the annual cold snap known locally as a “sheep chill”. Following this early blossoming, the grapes flourished right up through the start of the harvest on August 30. While it was a hot and dry year, several small-scale but hefty storms provided much needed moisture to the fruit.

A special vintage
Although the 2018s are currently sleeping in the cellar, it is already quite clear that this vintage will be remembered as one of equal parts ripe fruit, powerful structure and notable longevity. Our two Gutswein, the Wagram Terrassen Grüner Veltliner and Rosé Vom Zweigelt, will be released for sale in mid-January 2019. We are especially excited about the pair of single site wines, the Hohenberg and Georgenberg Grüner Veltliner, which have spent the summer maturing in large wooden barrels. They are showing potential for truly grand wines. The 2018 vintage will also produce outstanding reds.