*Michael Andert, his versus and his magnificent pig adorning one of his wines*

I’m standing in front of an enormous cage full of a pig, numerous chickens, a good few ducks and one or two birds I’m not at all sure I recognise. Michael Andert offers me a glass of grape juice and starts to tell us of his increasing passion for low and no-alcohol wines.

I have drunk Austrian wines on and off for many years and always been impressed by their quality. Now I am on a wine tour which is to take in Burgenland (where we are), flat as a pancake and just to the south of Vienna, Styria, three hours to the south and Kamptal, north west of the capital.

Michael leads us through his biodynamic plot, a long winding path with herbs everywhere, vines growing up through trees, a flock of the most bony looking sheep and a garden full of amazing vegetables and soil you want to eat. Like many of the wine makers we meet over the next few days Michael is a biodynamic wine grower. He exudes health, talks about circles and how we have to join things up and complete the helix of life.

Next up is some grape juice infused with herbs, it is utterly delicious, it feels full of goodness, or rather the life he talks about. His wines follow: a flight of earthy, delicious, life-affirming bottles, most at well below 11% abv. And alongside we eat one of the highlights of my summer: chopped vegetables from his garden, olive oil from Slovakia which is just on the horizon, and a little crumbled cheese. Nothing more. Not even salt. It is delicious. Except I realise there is a life-time of thinking from a man who really understands the soil he farms.

*Judith Beck in full flight on the joys of biodynamic farming, her immaculate cellar and the view from her tasting table*

Judith Beck inherited her vineyard from her late father, who until recently was to be seen working in the vineyards every day. She too is biodynamic and produces a wine called Hunny Bunny which I love, it is light and life-affirming, Blaufrankisch with a smile. You often see her Beck Ink on wine lists, but for me her real star is Traminer 2022, complex, long and generous, just like Ms Beck herself. Our tasting was preceded by a tour of her vineyards which are in perfect, pre-harvest mode. Tidy and well groomed but with a little wildness at the top end with the vines blowing in the wind and sheltering the slowly ripening fruit underneath. Global warming is a constant part of our conversations as are the generational challenges faced by parents and grandparents. Judith says her problems are different and she has more time to think about them and is quick to point this out. “Necessity dictated a lot of what my parents did. We are lucky to have more time to reflect, more choice. And we have science too.”

I am struck as we drive through the many villages how much this part of Europe was so ravaged by war and all relatively recently. The tough, binary reality of conflict sits so opposite to everyone we meet. Universally there is a sentiment of questioning everything, about feeling more puzzled and challenged as time goes on. A wanting to really understand nature and work with it. Spraying is more likely to be a ‘tea’ of herbs for mildew, not copper or sulphur, tractors are purposely light so as not to compact the soil, the challenge of monoculture very much in everyone’s thoughts.

*Andreas Tscheppe with his wife Elizabeth, one of the many bird boxes he has installed and a blue dragonfly on one his wines*

The next day I am staring at a bird box. Andreas Tscheppe* makes a range of wines all of which are adorned with labels as considered as the wines; think dragonflies, beetles and butterflies. The bird box is part of an approach to his vineyard which is concerned with diversity. There are fruit trees alongside the vines and between the rows herbs (lots of them) in among the grasses.

Andreas is one of the most thoughtful men I have met, openly admitting that the more he learns the less he feels he knows. His father was clearly a big influence, having turned a small parcel of land over to organic in 1994. The lightbulb vintage was 1997 and by 2000 the whole estate was organic, by 2005 it was biodynamic. Its been quite a journey.

The wines are deep, considered, mineral rich with fruit interwoven throughout and tannins skipping merrily alongside. We are soon discussing water molecules, the body’s frequency (5 hz in case you are wondering) and ice for some reason. Being no scientist I am gazing at some of the most stunning scenery I have ever seen and tasting amazing wine.

Sepp Munster makes his wine a few kilometres away so the landscape is almost the same but his wines completely different. Steely, mineral and razor sharp. His mainly sauvignon blanc vineyards are almost all in sight of his house. His alcohol levels remain low but he still likes the wines to have some bottle age.

*Mathais* *Warnung* *talks grapes, Magdalena Haas talks history and innovation and one of their Austrian Wine Mafia wines*

Our last day is spent in Kamptal, to the west of Vienna. Here the landscape is much less dramatic but nothing like the flatness of Burgenland. Mathais Warnung*, Magdalena Haas and her brother Lorenz make up the Austrian Wine Mafia*. Their stated aim is to promote family and cooperation. We sit in the most delightful courtyard overseen by an ancient and massive wooden wine press and in the sunshine taste a Gruner Veltliner/Muller-Thurgau called Dolce und die Japaner. It is fresh, fruit driven and with well-knit tannins. While the three mafiaosa work together under this brand Mathias also makes his own wine as does Magdalena. Soon we are opening more bottles and what really intrigues is the discussions around family and history, questioning and decision making.

*Martin Arndorfer (who always seems to be smiling!), his wife Anna and lots of bottles shared as they expand on their philosophies*

Martin Arndorfer and his wine Anna are waiting in their courtyard when we arrive, the refreshing sound of trickling water cooling on what feels to us like an intense day. We are given a glass of a pet nat they make with their neighbours Alwin & Stefanie Jurtschitsch. This Fuch und Hase* (fox and hare) rosé is delightfully fresh and fruity with a welcome 11.5% abv. We are under time pressure so Martin loads us and a few of his wines into his van and soon we are tasting wines in the vineyards they have come from. Martin stands in the sunshine while we all seek shade, smiling and enthusiastic about what his wines are really about. “For me it less about fruit, I want to transmit a feeling about what we do. I want a sense of place to come through, to tell the story of what to me is a very special place.” And very soon we are discussing biodynamics, diversity in the vineyard, flor in the cellar as we gaze down towards the Danube.

I have spent three days traversing Austria tasting amazing wines, speeding through beautiful countryside the like of which I have not experienced before. And I have spent time with people who ask more questions than they provide answers, who seem on quest to explore constantly, who are all acutely aware that their parents, in most cases, were not able to question like they are. Why is this I wonder as I head to the airport? Because their parents grew up in an age when they didn’t have choice. They had to farm to survive so they got on with it. These days there is more time but the list of questions only seems to grow.

we have introduced some of these wines to the list at No. 34.

I was a guest of Les Caves de Pyrene, one of our main suppliers at No. 34. My thanks to Kevin Barbary who not only invited me but also shared his knowledge and passion so generously.

A few Austrian winemakers

Low intervention wines explained