People |
Jutta Ambrostich, Owner, Farmer & Winemaker and husband, Marco Kalchbrenner, who takes care of the administration, poetic wine descriptions, and logistics.
Country |
Austria
Region |
Vineyards |
Rents and farms 4 hectares spread across 10 parcels. Some planted in the 1950s & 1960s. Rosengartl on the Nussberg hill and Reisenberg
- Soils: clay, marl, limestone, slate, gneiss
Focus |
Traditional with a twist. All micro-cuvées with several [Gemischter Satz], some single vineyard and a few single varietal bottlings. Plus that old-school Ein Liter Wien!
Farming |
Organic, uncertified. Watch out for the wild boars!
Grape Varieties |
Grüner Veltliner, Welschriesling, Zierfandler, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Blaufränkisch, Rotburger, Sankt Laurent, Blauburger, Merlot, & ancient indigenous varieties
Winemaking |
Natural
- spontaneous fermentation with wild yeast
- Most are aged in stainless steel
- Minimal sulfur additions at bottling
About the winery |
There are few things more enchanting than standing in a 2,000 year old vineyard, drinking wines made from the vines that surround you. The situation only improves with great company: the cheery team at Bowler Wines, my charming husband, baby Wine Witch, Marco Kalchbrenner, Jutta Ambrostisch herself and to top it off, her doggo.
Vienna and its residents have a long and intertwined history with its wine. It has the largest number of vineyards within its city limits of anywhere on earth. Most of the wine is used to sate the thirsty Viennese themselves. Winemakers here are known for their traditional, thirst-quenching, white field blends of Gemischter Satz, a perfect pairing for Schnitzel and Käsekrainer sausages. It's a style of wine often relegated to grocery store shelves, or sold out of a tap at any of the many Buschenschank (wine taverns) found around the city.
But Jutta isn't from Vienna or a winemaking family, giving her freedom from the ties that bind this staunchly traditional place. She found herself enamored with the juxtaposition of being a farmer in the big city. In 2004 she left behind her graphic design job to start a new dream.
What are the wines like? |
Her wines are a far cry from the gluggable styles produced by many of her neighbors. They are masterpieces of craft, allowing terroir to transcend grape variety to produce classic, often age-worthy bottles of serious juice.
She farms her four parcels organically and her winemaking would be considered "natural", but her clean, linear, complex results are a far cry from some of those who also don that moniker. These are wines unfamiliar to most and really worth exploring. I’ve yet to pour a taste for someone and not see the bottle walk away, and I’ve never started a bottle I didn’t finish.