Christoph Neumeister is the third generation to run the Neumeister winery in Straden. His approach to viticulture and winemaking as well as his demands on wine quality are very nuanced. At a time when the loudest, biggest or flashiest is very often pushed to the fore, he consciously pursues a long-term, holistic and elaborate approach in order to produce elegant wines that are characterised by inner calm and complexity, yet are still animating and satisfyingly profound.
Straden is located in the volcanic region of Styria in the south-east of Austria and is characterised by a mixed Illyrian-Pannonian climate. This brings warm days and cool nights as well as sufficient rainfall averaging 900 millimetres per year, which in turn results in a long growing season and allows for a late harvest. In this challenging climatic environment, 31 hectares are cultivated, spread over countless small vineyards on steep slopes. The geology of these vineyards is characterised by limestone-rich sedimentary soils from two different provenances: sandstone and shell limestone, formed from a tidal sea, as well as Sarmatian gravel, which was deposited here from the Alps during the Tertiary period.
Many of these vineyards have reached an age of 40 years or more and some of them are still vine cultures, which means laborious manual work. In addition, all the vineyards have been cultivated organically since 2013. The result of careful manual harvesting, extended maceration periods, gentle and slow maturation in the cellar, spontaneous fermentation, long lees contact times and late bottling are well-structured and elegant wines with a high degree of complexity and clear provenance.
The winery's premium vineyards are "Saziani" and "Moarfeitl" (GSTK) as well as "Klausen" and "Steintal" (1STK). 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 title "Falstaff Winemaker of the Year" at the Hofburg in Vienna in June 2019.
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