Schwarz wines and their makers are unmistakable and down-to-earth in the best sense of the word. Andau lies in the Seewinkel, in the sunny expanse of the Burgenland Puszta. Just opposite is the Leitha Mountains with their rolling hills. Special places where the vines find more than ideal conditions. Pure sunshine, the microclimate of Lake Neusiedl and very special soils, together with the craftsmanship and knowledge of their makers, are the reasons for very special wines.
Originally trained as a butcher, Hans Schwarz never actually intended to become a winemaker. For a long time, he pursued winemaking as a passion. Until he listened to the advice of his friends: "Hans, make wine!" Then things happened quickly and the tables turned: butchery became a hobby and Schwarz Rot developed into a cult wine that enjoyed international success. A more than good decision for wine lovers and connoisseurs.
Son Michael Schwarz has been running the winery since 2017. He also learned his trade from an early age. After training as a food technologist specializing in the meat industry and then studying viticulture, he gained practical experience all over the world at wineries in Spain, France, Germany and Australia before returning home. Once he arrived in Burgenland, he has been cultivating the tradition established by his father, enriched by his own ideas and experiences, with complete dedication ever since.
If the good Lord has kissed Austria, then it is in Andau. Because it is the warmest place in the country and blessed with the most hours of sunshine. The sun, warmth and barren gravel soils of the Seewinkel offer ideal conditions for ripe, full-bodied, harmonious red wines as well as round and fresh white wines.
On the other side of Lake Neusiedl, where the Alps end and the Pannonian Plain begins, lies the second home of Schwarz wines, the Leitha Mountains. This is characterized by pure minerality thanks to the slate and gneiss soils, in combination with clay and the unique "Leitha limestone". The wooded hills of the Leitha Mountains create a microclimate that preserves the vital fruit aromas in a unique way. They protect against cool winds from the west and create almost Burgundian conditions. Minerality meets expressiveness. Many of the Schwarz wines derive their special charm precisely from this combination of different sites in Seewinkel and Leithaberg. Five hectares are now also cultivated on the Lutzmannsburg high plateau, which is characterized by its calcareous brown loam soils.
"From the very beginning, our aim was to produce unique, complex, deep and harmonious wines without subscribing to traditions or jumping on new oenological trends. The focus should be on the wine itself, not on any ideas," says Michael Schwarz.
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