Gruber Röschitz Chardonnay Beerenauslese

The village of Röschitz is located in the Weinviertal region northwest of Vienna. After driving through largely flat agricultural land for an hour, a series of small hills appears on the horizon which offer the ideal topography and geology for vines, with their variety of sloping, well-drained soils. The climate is cool yet dry, and the local soils mainly loess and granite, which lends the wines from here an elegance and minerality seldom found in the more commonly sandy sectors of Weinviertal. The vineyards range from 250-350 metres above sea level.

The Gruber family have been making wine in the village for 200 years, but only commercially for 3 generations. Today the estate numbers 80 hectares, spread across 150 individual sites, and is run by siblings Maria, who looks after sales and marketing, Ewald in the cellar, and Christian in the vines, who have overseen the conversion to fully organic winemaking and viticulture since 2013.

Their wines combine immediate drinkability and freshness with an underlying minerality that is apparent across the range. A selection of estate wines is accompanied by single-vineyard bottlings which highlight individual terroirs. The distinctive labels reference the “wine spirits” found in the vineyards and cellars, (otherwise known as indigenous yeasts!) which give the wines such great character.

These are delicious, well made and very well-priced wines with personality, produced by an extremely talented and welcoming family.