"Wine is poetry in bottles." The wines of this small but fine family winery could not be described more aptly. The majority of the vineyards are located in Schützen am Gebirge, although a considerable part of the vineyards are also located in the neighbouring village of Oggau. There is a different soil composition in every direction, so it is easy to explain why the best sites were chosen for the individualistic varieties. However, producing the finest white and red wines for many years now requires a great deal of finesse.
Georg Prieler, the young oenologist with experience abroad, has this gift. He always makes his decisions intuitively, and that's a good thing, because the wines produced here are memorable. Soil and terroir are not just empty words for the Prielers: limestone soils can be found in the Seeberg and Sinner vineyards, which are located towards Lake Neusiedl and provide the grapes for the great white wines. Ungerbergen stands for sandy loam with pebbles and is an ideal location for late-ripening varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon. Goldberg, the undisputed best site of the estate, offers barren mica schist and is predestined for Blaufränkisch, the most traditional and important variety.
The Prieler family always focuses on the characteristics of the respective vineyard when developing the wines. Accordingly, the Pinot Blanc Seeberg is fermented exclusively in stainless steel tanks after an extensive maceration period in order to preserve finesse and freshness. The Blaufränkisch Johanneshöhe, on the other hand, is "trained" in large wooden barrels. And the very well-known Blaufränkisch Goldberg acquires its incredible suppleness during its stay of up to 26 months in 500-litre barrels. The latter Blaufränkisch Goldberg is a wine of superlatives, which has already won the "Falstaff Reserve Trophy" twice - in 2005 and 2008. But the Prielers have also been able to make a strong showing with their white wines at the "Falstaff Burgundy Varietal Trophy": two trophies were won with the Pinot Blanc Seeberg 2004 and the exceptionally mature Chardonnay Seeberg 2001. So it's no wonder that the family was named "Winemaker of the Year" in 2009.
Route
