2016 Gut Oggau Family Reunion Weiss
WINEMAKER: Stephanie & Eduard Tscheppe-Eselböck
REGION: Burgenland, AT
VARIETY: Grüner Veltliner, Weißburgunder, Gewürtztraminer, Welschriesling
VITICULTURE: Certified Biodynamic
A blend of Theodora, Timotheus, Emmeram and Mechthild. “2016 has been a vintage to remember for us. Spring brought us heavy frosts, while hailstorms in the summer tested ours and the resilience of our wines. Autumn by contrast was peaceful, forgiving and warm, and in the end delivered us tiny amounts but amazing qualities of grapes. We are growing and living at the whim of nature, so we realized we would have to let go. To let our wines take it all in and retell the story of the year through their complex characters. We have decided to let our family members unite, to go for a family reunion. So in 2016 there is only Gut Oggau Weiß, Gut Oggau Rosé and Gut Oggau Rot in our range. A one of a kind get together of our different wine personalities. All three wines are intrinsically tied to a time and a place. Cumulative energy, focused strength and collective finesse. The Spirit of youth and the wisdom of maturity united. This unique bottling tells the story of a year in the vineyards. Amidst the beauty of nature, at the behest of the elements. And with every sip the whole year unfolds on your palate. We are very happy to have taken this courageous step, because it shows that in the end families should always stick together if the circumstances ask for it. It’s worth it!”
Gut Oggau is a project in the small town of Oggau in Burgenland, Austria, started by Eduard and Stephanie Tscheppe in 2007. Before starting the winery, Eduard made conventional wine with his father in Styria, and Stephanie’s family owned and operated the Michelin starred restaurant Taubenkobel. They painstakingly restored the 17th century winery that had been abandoned for 20 years, including its 200-year-old screw press. The vines’ 20-year period of neglect was fortunate, as this allowed for all pesticide and chemical treatments to be washed away. This let them begin working immediately on vines biodynamically, where they are now fully Demeter certified.
When they began to work with the wines in the cellar, they noticed that each wine seemed so alive with its own personality, that they decided to craft labels centered around the personality inside each bottle. Thus they created a family of wines: each wine is given a name of one family member and the artist Jung von Matt draws a face for each label. The children, Atanasius, Theodora, and Winifred, are wines that are more forthright, light, bold and energetic. The parents, Joschuari, Emmeram, Timotheus, and Josephine, come from vineyards with a little more direct sun exposure and therefore more ripeness producing wines with more body and power. And finally the grandparents, Mechtild and Bertholdi, are from two single vineyards of older vines that produce the most traditional wines from their lineup. Most of the vineyards are field blended, and therefore there is little mention of grape varieties here, but they do work with 6 main grape varieties– Blaufrankish, Zweigelt Grüner Veltliner, Welchriesling, Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), and Gewurtzraminer.