The vineyard – the basis of our fine Wines

Good soil for optimum wines

This requirement is necessary to nourish suitable the quality wines labelled “Vinum Optimum“, whereby the this description basically stands for the best grapes from the best vineyards. Primarily for the varieties Grüner Veltliner, Riesling and Zweigelt from ancient grapevines, such as those in Schenkenbichl. There are also occasionally other wines with this name, such as Merlot, Pinot Noir, Gelber Muskateller or Sauvignon Blanc, deriving from younger grapevines, working them so that the hangings correspond to that of an ancient vineyard. This cryptic seeming statement simply means an extreme reduction in grapes, accompanied by a scupulous sorting by hand.

Apart from that in the vineyards many things are seen and done differently. Indeed the same philosophy applies here too – that top wines can only come from perfect grapes, however, we don’t want to overdo work in the vineyard and obsess about every stalk. Rather the independence of the grapevine is of utmost importance, as it is in fact a shrub and not an ornamental plant, to be treated and cut like espalier fruit, that not every grapevine should resemble another like in a landscaped garden.

This philosophy is also practised at the highly individual pruning, where we proceed according to the third principle (left, middle, right), to achieve improved exposure to the sun and air circulation of the  grapes on the individual vine.