Prieler
Prieler
This Article Contains |
People |
Georg Prieler
Focus |
Wines from Indigenous Blaufränkisch as well as Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay, Burgundian varietals, which have a centuries long history in the region. From the entry level to the top single vineyards they each show depth, finesse and age worthiness.
Country |
Austria
Region |
Burgenland
Village |
Schützen
Climate |
Moderate Continental
- Clearly delineated seasons, hot summers, cold winters.
- Each region in Austria is characterized by its proximity to the two competing cold and hot weather patterns.
- South from the Danube, in Burgenland they face the Pannonian plain and the full brunt of its warm westerly winds.
- This heat is what allows red grapes to ripen at such a northerly latitude
- Northern Burgenland gets 2,000 hours of sunshine annually, which makes it the sunniest region in all of central Europe,
- Below average rainfall.
- There is a cross over from primarily white wine country into red wine country
- The northern tip, at the Slovakian border, gets a touch of cooling influence of north wind from across the Weinviertel
- The southern Eisenberg region is the coolest from air flowing down the eastern Alps.
- Temperatures decrease the higher in elevation you go, so vineyards on mountains and even hillsides retain more acidity.
- Old forests encroach on vineyards and act as temperature regulators, cooling things down, offering shade and buffering winds from both the alps and the pannonian plain.
Vineyards |
20 ha
- Seeberg: Limestone dotted with fossils, planed to Pinot Blanc
- Haidsatz: “a layer of limestone over a slab of schist” planted to Pinot Blanc
- Marienthal: Calcareous sand and limestone over deep chalk, planted to Blaufränkisch
- Goldberg: Mica-schist soils planted to Blaufränkisch
Grape Varieties |
- Blaufränkisch
- An indigenous grape
- Can make wines that are both distinctive but also that have the ineffable feel of true classic
- Naturally high acidity with medium plus to high tannins, balanced by concentrated fruit
- excellent aging potential, but very approachable in youth.
- A Chinese five spice note is typical
- Fruit and structure are dictated by its soil types: typically red on limestone, black on slate, blue on schist.
- Like Pinot Noir, Blaufränkisch is not an especially easy grape to grow
- Needs proper site selection and knowledgeable winemakers to tame its acidity and tannin.
- Wines are often underpriced for their quality.
- Sankt Laurent
- Long thought to be a relative of Pinot Noir for its similar body and aromatics, Sankt Laurent is now known to be an unrelated and indigenous variety.
- It’s mainly grown in Burgenland and Thermenregion
- Makes for pretty, delicate wines, sometimes oak aged, with soft tannin.
- Never accumulates a lot of sugar, meaning it's always going to be light in body with low alcohol.
- Pinot Blanc / Weissburgunder
- the secret weapon Austrian whites.
- It was brought over with the Cisterian monks in the 10th century and is grown in small pockets in all the wine regions.
- Similar to Chardonnay, but with softer flavors and acidity.
- Makes great simple quaffing wines. But grown in the best plots it makes some of the most surprisingly concentrated and long lived wines in the country.
- It’s not exported often so bottles are hard to find outside of Austria, but not to be missed if you can lay your hands on one.
- Chardonnay
- Another grape brought over by the Cistercian monks so it’s had a long time to make a home for itself.
- Grown across the country, it is made in styles that range from light, unoaked, and Chablisienne to big, broad and toasty.
- There are some beautiful examples in Burgenland, Vienna, Lower Austria and especially the Steiermark.
Farming |
Organic
- Prune rigorously
- Plant cover crops
- Meticulous attention is paid to canopy management as their region receives so much sunlight
- Multiple, careful selections during harvest
- Goal is to balance alcohol while still achieving physiological ripeness
Cellar Work |
Traditional - Low Intervention
- Grapes are carefully crushed
- Spontaneous fermentation
- Fermented at closely controlled temperatures
- Fermented and aged in steel tanks or wooden casks, large and small
- The character of the variety and the vineyard determines where the wine will mature.
About the winery |
The Prielers have been farmers in the Leithagebirge region for 200 years. But it was Georgs grandfather who decided to bottle the grapes into wine first, while also maintaining a polycultural farm. Engelbert and Irmgard, Georg’s parents, decided to focus exclusively on wine starting in 1972 and immediately garnered attention for their outstanding bottles.
Now Georg is in charge and takes his role as farmer and winemaker of his family domain very seriously. He is quick to laugh and can easily set a room at ease. He always knew he wanted to be a vintner and his hyper attention to detail keeps pushing the quality of the estate forward.
Blaufränkisch, the Burgenland's terroir-transparent grape, is the crown jewel of the estate and they make several single vineyard bottlings from the variety. But his Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay, Burgundian varietals, which have a centuries long history in the region, are truly fantastic.
What do the wines taste like?
Classic, mineral, with subtle fruit. Reds have velvety refined tannins. The whites are on par with Burgundy and can age even longer.
Entry level wines are great quaffers, tuesday night, pizza wines.
They all balance the tightrope of artisanally crafted characterful expressions of place, and classic precision.