Christoph Neumeister is the third generation to run Weingut Neumeister in Straden. His approach to viticulture and winemaking and his quest for wine quality are fine-tuned.
At a time when very often the loudest or shrillest wines are catapulted into the limelight, he consciously pursues a long-term, holistic and painstaking approach in order to vinify elegant wines characterised by inner calm and complexity yet are still animating and satisfyingly profound.
Situated in the volcanic region of Styria in south-eastern Austria, Straden is characterised by an Illyrian-Pannonian climate, with warm days and cool nights, and ample rainfall - an average of 900 millimetres a year - to ensure a long growing season and late harvest. In this challenging climatic environment, 31 hectares are cultivated, distributed among countless small vineyards on steep slopes. The geology of these vineyards is characterised by limestone-rich sedimentary soils from two distinct origins: sandstone and shell limestone, formed from a tidal flat sea, and Sarmatian gravel, which was deposited here in the Tertiary Period originating from the Alps.
Many of these vineyards have reached an age of 40 years and more and are partly still single-pole training systems, which means laborious manual work. In addition, all vineyards have been farmed organically since 2013. The result of careful manual harvesting, extended maceration periods, gentle and slow ageing in the cellar, spontaneous fermentation, long yeast contact times and late bottling are well-structured and elegant wines with a high degree of complexity and distinct origins.
The winery's premium vineyards are "Saziani" and "Moarfeitl" (GSTK) and "Klausen" and "Steintal" (1STK aka ). The family runs the restaurant "Saziani Stub'n" and the boutique hotel "Schlafgut Saziani" in the immediate vicinity of the winery. Christoph Neumeister was awarded the "Falstaff Winemaker of the Year" title in June 2019 at the Hofburg in Vienna.
