We prefer low interevention winemaking. Leaving barrels closed and in peace is more helpful than doing rackings and aerations all the time. Apart from that, we don’t use modern oenologic helpers such as selected yeast, enzyms, bacterias or finings.
Notes from the Importer:
Fun facts:
- Markus started to make wine naturally thanks to his childhood memory of snacking on Neuburger grapes – when he couldn’t find this taste in wines as an adult, he realized it was due to all the modern winemaking additives that make the wine taste standardized. His decision to eschew them step by step allowed him to find the pure grape taste again.
- A significant part of Altenburger’s 17 hectares are older vines with very low yields – two-thirds are more than thirty years old, and the oldest ones were planted in 1969 by Markus’s grandfather.
- The Altenburger family originates from the mountainous western part of Austria (Tyrol); in the 16th century, they moved to Burgenland and have been farming there ever since, cultivating a traditional mixed farm with vines and other crops.
- The labels are based on the imprints of Markus’s own hands, using the lees of their wines as “paint” – Blaufrankisch for the reds and a skin-contact white blend for the white wines.
