Knoll?
Definitely on the list!
So far we’ve confirmed a visit at Wieninger. Apart from that, the names in our list are:
- Domäne Wachau
- Hirtzberger
- Josef Jamek
- Knoll
- Veyder-Malberg
- Birgit Eichinger
- Bründlmayer
- Hirsch
- Loimer
- Schloss Gobelsburg
- Kracher
- Moric
- Preisinger
- Rosi Schuster
- Nikolaihof
Maybe:
- Rudi Pichler
- Weszeli
What was that crazy natural wine guy in Austria? Tschida?
With a couple of friends I had a wonderful 3 hr seance with Michael Moosbrugger in 2002. Things might have changed. More relevant I turned up unnanounced with my wife in 2019 and was received by his father (or father in law) and was treated to an hour with wonderful talk and stories and several bottles opened. We had some stories about Dirk Niepoort whom we both had met, to share. He married Dorli Muhr at Gobelsburg in 2002 after the intended localities in Spitz flooded. Major flooding in the spring. Bought some bottles there in 2015 as well.
We also spent some hours on the terrace of the old Dom Wachau in 2002, before it all went touristy.
I reccommend eating at the Hofmeisterei in Wøsendorf if possible. Just visited in september.
1 Like
Which one of them? 
Anyways, Tschidas are all located in Styria, which was in a direction we were not heading at any point. But they are great and I’d love to visit them!
EDIT: Mixed them with Tscheppes! Tschidas are Burgenland people, so yeah, maybe!
I most strongly advice you to add Alzinger to your list. A superb address, my brother had a great visit there in 2024 on my recommendation. I should have been there but got ill and had to cancel.
2 Likes
As luck would have it, they are closed exactly on the weekdays we’ll be in Wachau!
We shall see. We had some discussions earlier, but the producer name didn’t stir emotions among the attendees, so I guess it’ll be in the “maybe” pile for now!
It’s been twenty or so years since I was last there, but Hirtzberger has always been my favorite. Love the family. They’d let me taste prerelease wine, and if I bought any, they’d call me up to let me know it was ready to pickup.
1 Like
I think Christian is the one I know of (that Jason Wilson featured in his book)
Yeah, that’s the crazy naturalist. The wines are pretty uneven - some have been heavily oaky, others excessively volatile. And yet some have been simply magical. When they are good, they are good.
But Angerhof Tschida is a producer that is making some really impressive sweet wines. We’ll see if we can manage to fit in a visit to their place!
You know my preferences Otto— was gonna propose the Tscheppe or Muster family. What I’ve had has always been clean. Otherwise, maybe Franz Strohmeier? He has a lot of (deep) interest in vine training and alternative vineyard management.
Yeah, but all those are in the Styrian part of the country…
Ah, coming out of a Flu coma here, so never mind me 
Only thing in that direction I see missing would then be Joiseph, which had for a long time been pushed by Kleppe at Noma and Barr in Copenhagen for pairings. I love their Muskat Ottonel. Lovely wines.
I was in Niederosterreich last summer. All of the visits were super so a few brief notes here in case it helps your decision making. I hear you on the “random tourists”. In my case, without, hopefully, coming across as some self-entitled dick, I emphasised the following in my mail —traveling specifically from afar (Singapore at the time), on my own, cycling up from Vienna, part of my WSET diploma studies at the time. A little embarrassingly performative on my part, and obviously these points are specific to me, but it did seem to help open some doors and show I mean business. Hope some of this helps.
Allram: Lorenz is a great guy who should be happy to give you an informative visit and tasting. I liked the wines and place so much I’m planning to work the harvest here next year so I’d be particularly curious to hear your opinion on the wines if you visit.
Hirsch: A little more of a structured visit but fantastic and flexible at the same time. Daniel gave me a super tasting and was very informative.
Brundlmayer: They indicated they only conduct visits for the trade, which they generously considered my diploma studies to be. Otherwise, they refer you to the restaurant. Good visit to see a large producer and taste through the huge range of stuff they make.
Knoll: Despite being a little manic with bottling, Emmerich was very generous with his time and gave us a great guided tasting. I piggy-backed on a tasting with a US importer so perhaps got lucky.
Rudi Pichler: Rudi was especially generous with his time and gave me a 1 on 1 masterclass through his range. Incredibly informative.
Roland Chan: If Roland is there, I would certainly add this visit. I was originally put on to them by my tutor and then when there, all of the establishment (Emmerich Knoll, Rudi Pichler etc) gave strong praise for what they’re doing. The wines are great and Roland was happy to take me around the vineyards, tour, and taste. Unfortunately…he splits his time with other locations so I missed him but tasted through the wines which were great. Perhaps you can get lucky with the schedule.
2 Likes
For white wines Styria is a must! Equally exciting as Wachau/Kamptal.
Gor reds go to Burgenland.
For Styria I can give you contact.
I know, but as I’ve now told multiple times, we’re not going there this time. It’s definitely a place I would’ve loved to visit and probably do so at a later time.
Yes we are going there. I’m not looking recommendations for any regions, I’m looking for recommendations in the regions we are going to visit (which I’ve listed in my 1st post).
For reds and whites in Mörbisch:
Thanks! This was exactly the kind of content I was hoping for! Definitely helps me a lot, plus a few names I didn’t know from before. Need to look into these!
How did it go with contacting the wineries? Did you just send email / contact from the website, or do you have a more direct contact with the wineries?
Are these any good? As in if you compare them to some of the well-known names in the region like Tschida, Gsellmann, Heinrich, Moric, Opitz, Preisinger and Weninger? There weren’t that many notes in CT - and most of the notes that were there were not particularly encouraging. (Plus the bottles look pretty cheap as well. )
Quite traditional style, needing a bit of time in the bottle, not forced (by extraction), but balanced and always a pleasure to drink.