In 2011, Alex and Maria Koppitsch took control of the families 6 hectares of vines in Burgenland, 40 minutes from the Austrian capital, Vienna. From 2005 to 2011 Alex worked alongside Gerhard Pittnauer in the neighbouring village of Gols. During this time, Gerhard converted his vineyard practices to biodynamic farming and Alex took these principles and applied them to the family farm in 2007. Prior to 2011, the family sold their fruit off to local producers.
There are 5 vineyard sites incorporated in the 6 hectares, all located around the village of Neusiedl am See, known as Seefeld, Neuberg, Prädium, Hutweide and Schafbühl.
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THE VINEYARDS
Seefeld
With sandy soil, this vineyard sits next to the marshes of the lake. It is a dry, windy and hot site, within the direct haze of lake Neusiedl, producing grapes of intense aromas. The oldest vines here are 42 years old.
Neuberg
Neuberg vineyard is a rocky limestone hill in the north west of the town and belongs to the Leithaberg Mountains. With scant top soil, there is a large proportion of limestone fragments close to the surface (and some schist). The vines are approximately 60 years old here.
Prädium & Hutweide
Both Prädium and Hutweide are located on the plateau above the lake. The soils are sandy on the top with an intense layer of rubble underneath, large gravel / river stones from the ancient Danube river. The vineyards were planted between 1988 and 2002, the land in its heyday was used for grazing livestock
Schafbühl
The smallest vineyard located north east of the lake, the soil composition is free-draining, alluvial clay. A southwest slopping hill rolling from the Wagram plateau towards the lake.
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Across these sites the Koppitsch's grow Blaufränkisch, Chardonnay, Gemischter Satz weiss, Grüner Veltliner, Pinot noir, Sauvignon Blanc, St Laurent, Syrah, Weißburgunder, Welschriesling and Zweigelt
All grapes are hand harvested and fermentation is only with indigenous yeast. In the cellar they use old barriques and demi-muds of acacia wood, fibreglass and stainless steel tanks. The reds are de-stemmed, although as Maria likes to say "it's an old de-stemmer so maybe only 90% of the grapes are really de-stemmed!"
Until 1921 Burgenland was a German-speaking part of the Hungarian monarchy. In homage to this history of Hungarian culture, several of the Koppitsch wines have Hungarian names: 'Homok' (sand), 'Rosza' (Pink) and 'Ret' (grassland).
The Wines
Pretty Nats 2019
50% Blaufränkisch 50% Syrah from the Neuberg vineyard. Whole bunches are basket pressed and the juice goes into fibreglass tank before being bottled at the right moment. The wine is hand-disgorged at the beginning of Spring when the nights are still cold.
Homok 2019
40% Gruner Veltliner, 40% Weissburgunder, 20% Sauvignon Blanc from the sandy soils of the Seefeld plot. Whole bunches are pressed, partially co-fermented. Èlevage in tank and large acacia for 7 months on gross lees. Unfined and unfiltered, minimal sulphur at bottling.
Perspektive Weiss 2018
80% Weissburgunder, 20% Chardonnay. From the limestone rich soils of the Neuberg vineyard. The grapes see minimal skin contact (maybe just 4 hours) before the bunches are direct-pressed. Fermentation and èlevage is in old barriques (225Lt) No bâttonage occurs and èlevage is for 10 months on gross lees. Barrels are blended prior to bottling. Unfined and unfiltered, minimal sulphur at bottling.
Rosza 2019
40% Zweigelt, 40% Blaufrankisch, 10% St Laurent, 5% Pinot, 5% Syrah. A cuvee reflective of the region with fruit coming from all vineyards and terroirs: sand, clay, limestone and rubble. Whole bunches are pressed, partially co-fermented, èlevage in tank for 7 months on gross lees. Unfined and unfiltered, minimal sulphur at bottling.
Ret 2018
80% Zweigelt 20% St Laurent. The grapes are from the grasslands plateau that runs from the lake North East to the Hungarian border, in the Prädium & Hutweide vineyards. Grapes are de-stemmed and macerated for 8 days. Èlevage occurs in tank and a portion of the Zweigelt held in large acacia, 16 months on gross lees. Unfined and unfiltered, minimal sulphur at bottling.
Touch 2017
50 % Welschriesling from the Neuberg vineyard and 50% Gemischter Satz (see note below) from Schafbühl. Majority of the fruit was de-stemmed with 30% whole bunches. 14 days maceration for both, the de-stemmed fruit is free-run juice, the whole bunches basket-pressed. At this stage the wine is blended and then spends 10 months èlevage in old barriques for 12 months on gross lees. Unfined, unfiltered, minimal sulphur at bottling.
note. Gemischter Satz is the growing of different grape varieties together in the same vineyard, harvested together and made into one wine. They do not know all varieties that grow here, but some are: Grüner Veltliner, Brauner Veltliner, Weissburgunder, Welschriesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Traminer, Muskat, Neuburger and many more.