Slate soils, steep slopes and manual work: Kitzeck, a village 564 meters above sea level in the Sausal region of southern Styria, is home to Weingut Schauer, a traditional family business - its roots date back to 1757 - with outstanding vineyards, a sustainable philosophy and wines full of elegance and finesse.
The winery owns traditional and particularly favored Kitzecker vineyards, which are very labor-intensive to cultivate due to their impressive slope inclination. Manual labor is essential, but guarantees meticulous selection and the very best quality of the harvested grapes.
The Sausal differs geologically from the rest of southern Styria. Slate sets the tone here. The steep slopes, some with dizzying gradients, were formed 300 million years ago in the Palaeozoic era and their soils consist of phyllitic slate. At that time, southern Styria, which surrounds the Sausal, lay beneath a primordial sea, from which the Sausal protruded like an island. This is why there are no calcareous marine deposits here, but rather clay slate, sericite quartzite, green slate, red and blue-black slate. Limestone deposits are only occasionally found at lower altitudes. You can taste the slate in the Schauers' wines: the smoky, mineral and spicy notes are indicative of this type of soil.
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