The soils/Terroir
The stony primary rock and slate soil store the sun’s heat, keeping the wine terraces warm on cool nights. These stone soils are rich in potassium and offer vines natural minerals which reach the grapes. This shapes the mineral taste of our Gigant and Urknall collections in a unique way.
The loess: Powerful and profound and very delicate. Its fertility comes from its small but not too fine particle size and easily accessible minerals.
Roots that go up to 17 metres deep give our wines from Sand1, ClassicC, Impuls & Urknall Collections their strong fragrance and elegant, zesty taste. Our red wine collection also comes mostly from loess, giving it complexity and density.
The Micro-Climate
The terraced locations, facing south towards the Danube, provide the perfect climate. The southern slope guarantees sunlight from morning to evening, which is also reflected by the Danube on the wine terraces. Moreover, like the primary rock, loess & slate soils, the Danube stores the sun’s warmth. It then releases it to the vines at night and on cooler days. This microclimate ensures a long vegetation period, during which the grapes ripen slowly while retaining their refreshing acidity.
Old vines
In the 19th century, phylloxera struck and destroyed many European vineyards. To defend themselves, European winegrowers, for example, grafted their vines with American phylloxera-resistant vines. Old, deep-rooted vines give a lower yield, but in return, deliver mineral essences that are particularly rich in extracts. The Zöhrer Winery relies precisely on this special whim of nature and tries year after year to bottle the best musts from the terroir and also the Rerserve collection from old vines.
Ernings
Healthy and ripe grapes – harvested at the pefect time are the motto of the Zoehrer Estate every year: fewer grapes on the stock – more quality in the wine cellar.
Controlled & Integrated Wine Production
With a green eye, the Zöhrer Winery, as “integrated” producers, regards soil fertility as the most important basis for producing great wines. We strive to keep external influences on nature as low as possible and always apply methods that are similar or identical to organic cultivation first. A complete conversion of all vineyards is planned by Toni Zöhrer, but with the terraced vineyards, it will be a long and hard road!
With integrated viticulture (KIP), an additional area of near-natural cultivation methods has been established in recent years, combining environmental and nature protection with economic efficiency and social interest. This triangle of ecology, economy and social interest is based on the concept of sustainability and expresses that improvements in one of the three areas must never be at the expense of the other areas.
Synonyms:
„umweltschonender Weinbau“ (Deutschland)
„Viticulture Raisonnée“ (Frankreich).
„Kontrolliert Integrierte Produktion“ (Österreich)
The most important organisations are:
„Kontrolliert Umweltschonender Weinbau“ (KUW)
„Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter“ (VDP) Deutschland
„Terra Vitis“ (TV) Frankreich
„Kontrollierte Integrierte Produktion“ (KIP) Österreich.
