Weingut F. X. Pichler

Together with his wife Johanna, a winemaker's daughter from Rheinhessen, Lucas Pichler is the seventh generation to run the family winery. The experience of these generations is both a responsibility and an obligation. Lucas Pichler accepts his responsibility out of respect and appreciation for family and history, for wine and nature. The capital, in the form of the best Grüner Veltliner vines goes back to his grandfather, Franz Pichler. A quality fanatic, he meticulously documented the performance and characteristics of the unique vines with the aim of propagating the best grapes and selecting the best vines for him from the primary rock terraces on the Loibenberg. His father, Franz Xaver Pichler, then achieved his international breakthrough - true to his motto: "For a great wine, you need a top location and an irrepressible will to create something great from it." At Pichler, the declared aim is always to make wines that are a true reflection of the year, the soil and the special microclimate of the Wachau. The subtle nuances of each site should be perceptible and tangible in their multi-layered uniqueness. A tasting of the wine range is therefore always a "high mass of maturity". Regardless of the category, the wines impress with their precise profile - everything that goes into the bottle is exactly as intended. Today, Lucas Pichler, who took over the vinification of around 14 hectares from the 2000 vintage, has around 20 hectares of top vineyards. These are located in the immediate vicinity of the winery in Oberloiben and extend in the east from the Steinertal and Rothenhof vineyards via Burgstall, Loibenberg and Liebenberg to the world-famous Dürnsteiner Kellerberg vineyard. The Frauenweingarten, Trum and Klostersatz vineyards on the plain of the Loiben basin are worth mentioning. A little more than half of the area is planted with Grüner Veltliner, the other half with Riesling - and a very small amount of Gelber Muskateller in the Loibenberg vineyard. Around 35 percent of the vines grow on the steep primary rock terraces, which can only be worked by hand, a Wachau cultural asset whose intensive care goes back many centuries. Great wines bear a signature. Lucas Pichler's signature is authentic wines from a single source. The subtle nuances of the vineyards can be felt, recognised and tasted in their uniqueness. The wines are full of energy and of exceptional elegance. But not only are the Pichler family's wines exceptional and of the highest quality, the modern winery in the middle of the vineyards between Dürnstein and Oberloiben, built in 2009, is also unique and worth seeing for every wine lover.

The winery F.X. Pichler in Oberloiben has been one of the fixed stars in the Austrian wine sky for decades. Franz Xaver Pichler Senior deserves the credit for having given the winery an unmistakable stylistic line, which today is further enriched by his son Lucas, who manages the winery together with his wife Johanna. When one speaks of Pichler's Rieslings and Grüner Veltliners, one is also referring to the most famous sites in Loiben and Dürnstein, which stretch from the Steinertal in the East to Loibenberg, Kellerberg and Liebenberg in the West. At the Pichler estate the aim is always to create wines that are a true reflection of the year, the soil and the special microclimate of the Wachau. The fine nuances of each respective site should be perceptible and tangible in their multi-layered uniqueness. Thus, tasting through the range always turns out to be a high point. Regardless of the category, the wines are convincing due to their precise structure - everything that is put in the bottle is exactly as intended. Those who try to judge these "wine works" should always keep the time factor in mind because the Smaragd wines, which are rich in substance, need seven to eight years to fully develop; the great wines of the estate, labelled "M" or "Infinite", even longer. Since 2009, Lucas Pichler has the space he needs to realise his ideas in the new cellar which they built in the middle of the vineyards between Dürnstein and Oberloiben. From the 2016 vintage, there were some changes at F.X. Pichler due to changes in the designations of the wines. Since then, Riesling Smaragd Oberhauser and Grüner Veltliner Urgesteinsterrassen have no longer been made, and the Federspiel Frauenweingärten has been integrated into Loibner Federspiel.