Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours took place from Sunday, May 28 - Thursday, June 08, 2023. We toured Austria for 12 days, starting and ending in Vienna: Wien, Wagram, Carnuntum, Burgenland, Steiermark, Wachau, Kamptal, Kremstal, Traisental, Wien.
Following:
Tour and Tasting at Weingut F.X.Pichler, Wachau, with Lucas Pichler - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
we visited Weingut Doris and Matthias Hager, a leading producer in the Austrian low-intervention, natural wine movement. Doris was our host. We visited the winemaking facilities and enjoyed a stand-up tasting on the deck of the Hager family home.
Weingut Doris and Matthias Hager is represented in the USA by Volker Donabaum (Volker Wine Company in in Houston, Texas).
Weingut Doris und Matthias Hager, Kamptal, Niederösterreich
This is a family winery with 32 acres of vineyards in and around the town of Mollands in the Kamptal. The strength of the vineyards is their soil diversity. From loess, clay to different types of primary rock formations, everything is represented in this northern area of the Kamptal. Profound, full of character, and special - this is not only how the wines from Hager can be described, but also the winemaker himself.
Matthias was challenged very early on to take full responsibility for the family winery. He quickly
acquired a wealth of experience which motivated him to convert to biodynamic viticulture in 2006. I quote Doris and Matthias Hager: “Working biodynamically is a wonderful life’s work. It requires a great deal of sensibility in the vineyard and long-term thinking. Biodynamic viticulture means much more to us than ‘just’ making wine. It’s more about understanding the context of life. Nature is an ingenious system that needs to be explored and its powers of self-regulation used for viticulture. How to do this is not so easy to read in a textbook. It requires observation, perseverance, patience, and experience.”
Matthias Hager - Raw Wine
Matthias Hager´s winery has about 15ha of vineyards in and around the small wine-growing village Mollands. All of his vineyards are cultivated bio dynamically according to Demeter. The strength of this family business is its diversity. Loess, clay and different kinds of primary rock (mica shist, gneiss, etc.) can be found in the northern part of Kamptal. According to this diversity, Matthias Hager has a large assortment. Cool winds and nights and the stony soil around Mollands are responsible for the fruity, spicy and mineral taste of these Kamptal wines. Matthias knows well how to use this diversity for his wines and therefore he began to differentiate his assorment in a vivid, easy-drinking blue line, a strong and more complex brown line and in a red line for exrtrem natural wines. It was in 1992 when Matthias startet to „make“ wine. During his apprenticeship he worked already on the farm of his parents and took responsibility of all the process during wine making.
Matthias likes to experiment with his grapes. With some things he was already very successful but the most important thing is that he never stops trying new things. Around the year 2000 he started to interest in organic farming. 2005 he decided to convert also his vineyards and fields to organic cultivation. During this time he got in contact with some Demeter farmers who introduces him into biodynamic cultivation and the courses of Rudolf Steiner. This was very fascinating for him and so he converted his vineyards into biodynamic cultivation and got member in Demeter association.
Matthias Hager is still experimenting. He always says: „ Life is not over yet!“ Thus, since a few years he produces Pet Nat (sparkling wine methode ancestrale), a natural sparkling wine (fermentation only with natural yeasts) wines without or just a little Sulphur addition and white wines that are full or just a part fermented on the skin (like red wines). The only limit that he considers are the Demeter-rules, which means working with the nature, not against it and supporting the nature only where it is necessary and not more. Only then you can talk about real terroir.
Arriving
Winemaking Facilities
Tasting
Doris and Magtthias
Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours - Published and Forthcoming Postings
ombiasy WineTours: Wine Tour Schedule 2023 - Austria, Germany/East, Burgundy/ Champagne, Germany/ North
Announcement: Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours - 12 Days: May 28 - June 08, 2023
The Wines of Austria - Presentation by Annette Schiller, ombiasy WineTours, at the 2021 American Wine Society National Conference in Atlantic City
Wine Producer Austria - Not Only Gruener Veltliner
Summary: Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Schiller’s Favorite Spots to Drink Wine in Vienna, Austria
Dinner at an Iconic Beisl in Vienna: Griechenbeisl - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour of the Monastery/ Palace Klosterneuburg and of the Weingut Klosterneuburg, with Wine Tasting - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Wiener Schnitzel and Tafelspitz at Plachutta in der Wollzeile, Vienna. Plachutta is more than a Restaurant: it is a Vienna Institution - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
After Dinner Drinks at Vis-a-Vis Wine Bar, Vienna - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Vienna: Viaker City Tour and Tour of Schloss Schönbrunn - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Lunch at Restaurant Die Seejungfrau in Jois at Lake Neusiedl - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard Tour, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Leo Hillinger, Burgenland, with Jakob Scharner, Diplom-Sommelier - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Cellar Tour, Vineyard Tour and Tasting at Weingut Netzl, Carnuntum, with Franz, Christine and Christina Netzl - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Lunch at Restaurant Mole West at Lake Neusiedl- Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Anita and Hans Nittnaus, Burgenland, with Anita, Hans and Martin Nittnaus - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour and Tasting at Weingut Umathum, Burgenland, with Joseph Umathum - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
2 Nights at Schloss Halbturn at Lake Neusiedl: Sekt Reception and two Dinners - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour and Tasting at Weingut Steindorfer, Burgenland, with Ernst and Roland Steindorfer - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Light Lunch at Gránátos Étterem at Esterházy Kástely in Fertöd, Hungary: Hungarian Goulash Soup and Esterházy Cake - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
At the Liszt House in Raiding, where the Great Pianist, Romantic Composer and Conductor was Born - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting at Weingut Straka, Rechnitz, Burgenland, with Thomas Straka- Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
High-end Sleeping and Eating in the Vineyard: Wohnothek am Ratschen and Restaurant am Ratschen (16/ 20 Gault Millau), Deutsch-Schützen - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting at Weingut Wachter-Wiesler, Burgenland, with Julia Wachter - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour, Tasting and Lunch at Weingut Jalits, Burgenland, with Mathias Jalits - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour and Tasting at Weingut Neumeister, Straden, Vulkanland, Steiermark, with Christoph Neumeister - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Dinner with a View at Weinrefugium Brolli, Steiermark- Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour and Tasting at Weingut Sattlerhof, Steiermark, with Justė Sattler- Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour and Tasting at Weingut Wohlmuth, Steiermark, with Maria Wohlmuth - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
"Brettljause" and Wine at Buschenschank Trummer, Weingut Trummer, with Jürgen Trummer - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting at Weingut Polz, Strass, Südsteiermark, with Sommelier Philipp Heidenbauer - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour and Tasting at Weingut Tement, Steiermark, with Sommelier Andy Bodor and Manfred and Heidi Tement- Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
"Steierisches Backhendl"-Lunch at Weingut Tement/ Restaurant Magnothek, Südsteiermark- Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Gustav Mahler, Sinfonie Nr. 3, at Graz Opera, Steiermark - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
In Eisenstadt, Burgenland: Tour at Haydn House, Lunch at Restaurant Henrici, Tour at Esterhazy Castle - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
At Loisium Wine & Spa Resort Langenlois, Kamptal: Impromptu Steininger Sekt Reception with Eva Steininger and Klaus Wittauer - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Wine-pairing Dinner at Heurigenhof Bründlmeyer (14.5/20 Points Gault Millau) - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour and Tasting at Weingut Steininger, Kamptal, with Brigitta Steininger - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour and Tasting at Weingut Jurtschitsch, Kamptal, with Alwin Jurtschitsch - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Austrian Beer and Wiener Schnitzel at Fiakerwirt in Langenlois - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting at Weingut Markus Huber, Traisental, with Markus Huber- Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard Walk and Tasting at Weingut Tegernseerhof, Wachau, with Owner/ Winemaker Martin Mittelbach- Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour and Tasting at Domäne Wachau, Dürnstein, Wachau- Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting at Weingut Nigl with Martin Nigl and Wine-pairing Dinner at Restaurant Nigl (14/20 Points Gault Millau) with Chef Bertram Nigl, Senftenberg, Kremstal - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour and Tasting at Weingut F.X.Pichler, Wachau, with Lucas Pichler - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting at Weingut Matthias Hager, Kamptal, a Leader in Austria's Natural Wine Scene, with Doris Hager - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Lunch at Gasthaus Gutmann, Zöbing, Kamptal
Tour and Tasting at Weingut Schloss Gobelsburg, Kamptal, with Stefan Tabery
2 Days in Dürnstein, Wachau, at Hotel Richard Löwenherz
Farewell Dinner at Café Central in Vienna