WEINGUT WENDELIN

WEINGUT WENDELIN

PERFECTION MEETS TRADITION

The tradition of wine-making in our family has matured for over three generations. Just like our grapes (that are picked only when they are fully ripe) and our are wines (that are allowed to fully ripen before they are bottled) we have today brought our business to full maturity.

By keeping the tradition of our forefathers alive, we have developed our unique identity. Not an easy task, when you consider that there are more than 95 excellent wine-makers in close proximity in Gols, one of Austria’s most famous wine-growing regions!

Despite a modern, fast-moving lifestyle, we have retained the know-how and manual work methods of previous generations. Their secret of success lay in a perfect match between the right vines and wines, and the unique characteristics of our region. Our wines ripen on the banks of the Lake Neusiedl. Here, we benefit from the highest average temperatures in Austria, the most hours of sunshine in Central Europe, and the mild steppe climate with its high humidity from the lake warming the downhill winds from the Alps.

Making good wine and offering people exceptional experiences of taste takes time. Time to live in harmony with the nature that surrounds us. Time to work with the soil, the climate and our environment. Have the nights in August been cool? Good for white wines. Lots of sun in September and mild temperatures in the nights? Good for red wines. A lot of rain? Good for sweet wines. My father and grandfather kept weather diaries going back years, and notes of countless tastings. And of course, a wealth of knowledge has passed down by word of mouth.

However, to decide on just the right moment to start harvesting by hand (to ensure the grapes remain undamaged), we not only rely on our own experience but taste the grapes in the vineyard daily. When the seeds don’t taste bitter any more (when the moisture in the fruit is reduced) the grapes are ripe. When the grape has become slightly wrinkled, then it is time for the picking. And this might be at a different time in autumn each year!

THE SECRET OF OUR SUCCESS

Every year I ask myself the same question: “How will I do the best with what I’ve got?”. Hardly a day goes by without meticulous work in the vineyards. There is no room for compromises, because a lot can happen under the open sky, which we cannot correct in the winery afterwards!

Our rigorous pruning process is the basis of the quality which distinguishes our wines. It starts as early as January, when the icy winter is in force. We cut every single vine by hand, and, with almost 100km of vines, this initial tour takes us right into February. It is our first opportunity to influence the quality of the vintage.

At the beginning of April the vines sprout. As each stock produces up to 15 shoots – more than a wine of high quality can sustain - the surplus is carefully reduced: field by field, vine by vine. Eight to ten shoots remain on each stock. This work often comes down to a matter of hours. If there is a storm warning, the whole family goes out with all helpers we can find, to fix the vines!

During flowering, in June, it is time for some harsh selection. After the flowering and depending on the wine we keep only between 6 and 12 bunches, with no more than one bunch on any one shoot. The French call this thinning ‘greencut’, because the ground is green with cut grapes, which turn into humus and give nutrition back to the vines.

For the ‘Prophet’ and ‘Poet’, the flagship wines in our selection, a mere 6 bunches are left!

The greencut allows the vitality of the vine, the amount of sun, water and nutrition, to concentrate in a few grapes. As a result, the grapes develop rich aromas and intensive tastes. In dry years the thinning ensures that the grapes have enough water. In wet years it prevents the grapes rubbing against each other, which causes the grapes to burst and mould to develop.

LIVING PHILOSOPHY

To meet our own top quality requirements we only process the best grapes. This means that in some years we only produce limited quantities of one sort and may have to go without another sort of wine altogether. We do not follow whims of fashion, nor do we produce excess quantities of wine every single year. Our philosophy is to rather set trends with excellent quality. This allows us to live up to the discerning tastes and expectations of our customers.

Our wines mature in big oak barrels - and the top red wines of course in barriques. We take great care to replace a third of our barriques with new ones every year! This adds only the purest aroma and flavour to the wine. The remaining barriques make for great storage as they give off a minimum amount of oxygen, taste and colour to the wines. For fermentation we only use natural yeast.

We have perfected wine-making as an art. To make each of our wines an exceptional experience, they are bottled individually. The optimal point of ripeness of each individual sort determines when it will be bottled. This individuality is our key motivation. Considering that the lifetime of a vine stock reflects a 30 to 40-year investment, the grapes they yield are our investment into the future! Some 10 years alone pass by from the initial idea to enjoying a glass of top quality barrique! Hence, we leave nothing to chance.

We have made a name for ourselves with exquisite, highly aromatic red cuvées - with our award-winning ‘Prophet’ and ‘Poet’ leading the way. Our white quality wines, such as the elegantly harmonious ‘Chardonnay’, and the sweet wines, such as the fruity-ripe, full-bodied ‘Weissburgunder’, complete our exceptional range of products.

VISION FOR THE FUTURE

With our stringent value-for-money principle for our award-winning quality wines we fill a niche market. We take pleasure in giving our customers the pleasure of exceptional experiences of taste. Connoisseurs will welcome the Gault Millau Austria’s accolades of our wines.

Over the past 10 years our Austrian customer base has extended to beyond our borders: to Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Poland and Sweden. In addition to specialised wine stores that have become our partners, our wines have also proven popular in great hotels - from the Grand Hotel in St. Moritz, Switzerland to the Ritz-Carlton in Berlin.

As of late our international sales even stretch as far as Macao or the Bahamas. In Florida-USA, in Argentina, Brazil, Canada and Russia we are just getting started. Our aim is to increase our future international sales with an export ratio of 50%!

What is in the pipeline next? Well, considering this year’s vintage, I again ask myself the same question: “How will I do the best with what I’ve got?”.

Andreas Wendelin, September 2009