Electric Styria: a tasting and discussion about this exciting wine region
Websites:
https://www.wachstumkoenig.at/ *** https://www.neumeister.cc/en/ *** https://www.vinogross.com/
One of the exciting wine stories in recent years is the emergence of a band of natural wine producers from Austria’s Styria (Steiermark). So it was great to gather with three producers for lunch at Dinner (this sounds odd: it was a lunch at the restaurant Dinner) with three producers from the region to taste and discuss ‘Electric Styria’.
These were Herbert König, Christoph Neumeister and Michael Gross. Michael’s family winery operates in Steiermark, but also over the border in Slovenian Styria. Austria in the past hasn’t had entirely precise political boundaries and before the first world war, the Duchy of Styria included both the Austrian and Slovenian parts. The Austrian bit is now Steiermark), and the southern bit, which used to be Untersteiermark (Lower Styria) is now the wine region Štajerska Slovenija (Slovenian Styria). Michael operates in Haloze, which is a wine region in Štajerska Slovenija.
So Styria is now found in both Austria and Slovenia. ‘Borders mean nothing for the wine,’ says Peter Honegger of Newcomer wine, who import these three producers. The grape varieties are the same in Haloze, the Slovenian region Michael works in, as they are in Styria.
‘Styria is a terrible place to make wine,’ says Herbert. ‘It costs so much to farm. We have to work so much to bring one bottle to the table.’ Styria is between the Alps and the Mediterranean, with annual rainfall of 800-1000 mm (in 2023 though there was 1500 mm of rain), and all the vineyards are on the slopes. Christoph points out that this necessitates hand work, and to boot there is hail three times a year. ‘If we were not brought up there we wouldn’t know how difficult this is,’ he says. ‘It makes no sense if you make a simple Sauvignon that tastes like everything else.’
Christoph has a point. Many of the Styrian growers are making techno wines and it seems a waste when you have such an interesting set of terroirs just to be turning out simple fruity wines.
He says that the strength of the region is being able to attain flavour without losing acidity, and without too much alcohol. ‘We can harvest fully ripe grapes and still have acidity and freshnes,’ he says. ‘This has become rare. You don’t get complexity from deliberately harvesting early to keep freshness.’ Michael agrees: ‘harvesting ripe is the key for making the wines like we do.’
Steiermark used to be a bigger region that it is now. Before world war one, there were more than 30 000 hectares of vines; now there are just over 5000.
The Slovenian vineyards in Haloze are a little bit drier than in Styria. Michael says the grapes ripen a little earlier. Normally he adds no sulfites at all, but he’s not dogmatic: in 2023 he had to add sulfites to the juice.
Vino Gross Gorça 2020 Haloze, Slovenia
This is from three parcels of Furmint, two of which are old Slovenian selections and the other from Hungary. Full yellow in colour, this is powerful and intense with high acidity and a mineral dimension, combining power and freshness really well. Profound. 95/100
Wachstum König Weissburgunder Wiese 2021 Austria
12% alcohol. No added sulfites. This is from a 0.5 ha plot of Pinot Blanc, and because it is a little bit cloudy, it can’t be labelled with the region (Steiermark). Peach and citrus with a slightly sweet patisserie note. The palate has energy and minerality with good acidity. Such depth of flavour, but also precision, with a fine-grained finish. 94/100
Vino Gross Colles 2020 Haloze, Slovenia (from magnum)
This is a 2008 planting of Sauvignon Blanc with a selection taken from 120 year old vines owned by a hobby winemaker. The soils are Opok – marl with a high lime content. Highly aromatic with lovely energy. Citrus fruit with some green notes, showing power and focus. Pungent and mineral, with lemon, lime, grapefruit and fennel. 95/100
Wachstum König Sauvignon Blanc Weise 2021 Steiermark, Austria
Red schist soils with a bit of opok. Powerful and mineral with a sweet pear, peach and lemon core. Grainy and textural with an amazing acid line. Such intensity with great acidity, and some notes of honey, apple and custard, as well as a subtle smoky char. 95/100
Neumeister Ried Moarfeitl Sauvignon Blanc 2021 Steiermark, Austria
Highly aromatic with fine herbs and crystalline citrus fruit. Concentrated and powerful with lovely precision. Very fine, mineral, stony and precise, with subtle green notes as well as melon and pear. 94/100
Neumeister Gemischtersatz 2019 Austria (magnum)
12.5% alcohol. Christoph’s father had a restaurant and kept this wine on its lees, topping it up with lees so it stayed fresher, and then Christoph bottled some in magnums. This is slightly cloudy with stony mineral notes as well as ripe pear, apple and spice. Grainy and intense with lovely intensity. Fully ripe but so fresh with table grape, melon and citrus. Complex and full flavoured. 94/100
Vino Gross Korže 2021 Haloze, Slovenia
This is 70% Sauvignon and 30% Furmint with a high TA of 7.9 g/litre. Spicy and honeyed with apple and pear, as well as crystalline citrus fruit. Lovely acidity with a chalky edge to the lemony fruit, and notes of aniseed and herbs. 95/100
Wachstum König Welschriesling Moasch 2021 Austria
This is whole bunch macerated for 33 days in a steel tank. Cloudy yellow gold, it is powerful and intense but also smoothly textured. Nice apple and pear fruit with a slight cidery quality and tannic crunch. Fine and detailed with some table grape richness. 94/100
Neumeister Alte Reben Straderer Sauvignon Blanc 2015 Steiermark, Austria
13.5% alcohol. Steiermark was famous for stainless steel, fruit-forward wins and then Christoph made this, from very old vines sur echalas, which spends three years in 800-100 litre barrels, with two years on full lees. Limestone soils. Stony, mineral and taut with fresh lemony fruit and notes of wax and fennel. Concentrated, fine and with a hint of mint. Real personality here. 94/100
Vino Gross Iglič 2021 Haloze, Slovenia
13.5% alcohol. This is from Michael Gross’ best vineyard plot, with calcareous marl soils. Fabulous aromatics of stones and minerals, with some honey and spice, as well as some chalk. The palate is grainy and fine with ripe pear, apple and lemon fruit, showing precision but also depth. Very expressive. 96/100
Wachstum König Holle Sauvignon Blanc 2020 Haloze, Slovenia
13.5% alcohol. This is a steeply sloping site which used to be a coral reef, and is pure limestone. Full gold colour. Intense and concentrated with pure lime, some mineral notes and a pithy edge. There’s some pear and apple richness as well as herbs, spice and more minerals. So complex and deep: a remarkable wine of great intensity. 95/100
These are all available from Newcomer Wines in the UK
