Ambrositsch

People |

Jutta Ambrostich, Owner, Farmer & Winemaker and husband, Marco Kalchbrenner, who takes care of the administration, poetic wine descriptions, and logistics.

Country |

Austria

 

Region | 

Vienna

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.

Wines on Offer |

Ambrositsch, Blaufränkisch Hetfleisch, 2019 $172.99 $152.23
Jutta is from Eisenberg and is friends with Christoph Wachter. She gets some Eisenberg Reihburg fruit from Christoph and makes just one barrel of this very special wine.

Ambrositsch, Gemischter Satz Kosmopolit, 2021 $24.99 $21.99
This Gemischter Satz is named Kosmopolit as it comes from five sites on both sides of the Danube. It is a mix of wild varietals: Grüner Veltliner, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay, Zierfandler, and many other unknown grapes. The youngest vines are seven years old and the oldest were planted in 1970. The grapes are all picked on the same day then into a press for a 12 hour maceration. A true Gemischter Satz. Nectarine, very clean and fresh. White flowers.

 

Ambrositsch, Gemischter Satz Ringelspiel, 2021 $44.99 $39.59
From a single parcel on the right side of the Danube of the oldest vines, which were planted in the 1950’s. Marco’s notes cannot be skipped on this wine, “Old founding fathers amongst the vines, ancient grape varieties, planted almost 70 years ago. Twelve sorts that we know and some that nobody knows any longer. All in all, a wine that is far from the here and now, no chance to be a hit at the box office, and yet, it is a clear, valid, if not definitive manifest for Gemischter Satz from our cute metropole.”

Ambrositsch, Gemischter Satz Satellit, 2022 $25.99 $22.87
Mostly GV Riesling and SB. Bright lemon. Fresh. Some skin contact 4 days.

Ambrositsch, Gruner Veltliner Revision (Reisenberg), 2021 $44.99 $39.59
As Ambrositsch has chosen to not be in the DAC, they cannot use the vineyard names on the label, but this wine comes from one of their prized vineyards, the Reisenberg. It was planted all to Gruner Veltliner in the 1960’s. Ambrositsch described the soil as creamy and stinky, mainly with slate and gneiss. The vines are planted quite spaced out and they only make a maximum of 1,000 bottles per year. The wine is well structured and rich, a beautiful Gruner from 50+ year-old vines.

Ambrositsch, Riesling Utopie (Rosengartl), 2021 $40.99 $36.07
Wine Enthusiast: 93 Points (reviews coming in August). The Rosengartl vineyard is a legendary site for Riesling. It is on the right bank of the Danube on the famous Nussberg hill, a south-facing limestone slope that has great views of Vienna. Ambrositsch has eight rows of vines, planted in 2000 and 2001, right in the center of the plateau, the best spot. Peach and mineral. Bright acid with citrus finish. And from Marco, “Oh, the white blossoms, the cold wax, the gnawed-off apricot pits, the dried mint…one aroma intertwines with another as if conducted by a professional magician from the Heiligenstadt, leaving no time to pause for breath…”

Ambrositsch, Roter Gemischter Satz Rakete, 2022 $27.99 $24.63
From Marco: “Rotburger, Sankt Laurent, Blauburger, Merlot and a few white vines, probably planted unintentionally, who knows, Vienna 30 years ago, early 80’s, wild times in a city that was not so wild at the time, at least on the surface. Back to the wine: forest soil and fruits…fermented gooseberries, a few scattered cranberries and a somewhat too inflated dark pink air mattress by the pond. Please shake before drinking, bottled with fine yeast directly from the tank.”