Gemischter Satz is the wine of Vienna. Meaning mixed planting or mixed set, it can contain up to 20 grape varieties, all grown within the city limits. This fascinating, versatile wine naturally lends itself to a dazzling array of iterations, the perfect food accompaniment, or, as in the hands of Stefan and Alexander Fuchs, as a contemplative, aromatic tribute to its unique slice of land.

Wine cultivation in Vienna is as old as the city itself, with evidence of viticulture dating back to the Middle Ages. The Celts, the Illyrians, and the Romans grew grapes in the varying soils of the city. With urbanization, winemaking was pushed to the outskirts of the city center, to the hillsides that ring the urban core like an amphitheater. With plantings pre-dating the concept of monoculture, vineyards traditionally contained a mix of grape types. Gemischter Satz is co-planted, co-harvested, and co-fermented grapes combined to take advantage of acid, ripeness, and flavor characteristics, creating a harmonious wine that maximizes each harvest. Today, about 340 wineries keep this tradition alive in Vienna, the only city in the world still producing wine on such a large scale.

The Fuchs-Steinklammer estate, like Gemischter Satz, is also a rare mixed set. They are the only winery that cultivates and vinifies grapes from the distinct soils of two districts on opposite sides of Vienna.

In 1989 Kurt Fuchs of the northern 21st district and Helene Steinklammer of the southern 23rd district, married and merged their two wine estates. Together, they are the culmination of hundreds of years of winemaking with family history dating to 1697. Joining their two estates also created the only winery in Vienna that both owns and cultivates grapes from both the northernmost region of Vienna as well as the southernmost region, allowing their family to make a wide range of styles of Gemischter Satz.

The soils of these two districts are very different. The light loess soils, sandy loam and sandstone from the flysch zone on Bisamberg in the north are perfect for fruity Gruner Veltliner. The heavier clay and limestone soils in the south, with primary rock and dolomite limestone in Kalksburg are good for mineral white wines, and the heavy, loamy soils also in the south in Mauer are ideal for elegant red wines. All of their vineyards, however, benefit from the Pannonian climate, and the accompanying warm air currents along with cool nights preserving acidity and increasing phenolics.

For decades, the Fuchs-Steinklammer family has distinguished themselves not only for their dedication to preserving Vienna's important viticultural history through organic farming but also for their extraordinary, clean, thoughtful winemaking. They have been recognized by Slow Food for their organic viticulture and by Gault-Millaut for their stunning wines. Now, the newest generation, sons Stefan and Alexander, are pushing the boundaries of Gemishter Satz, fully committed to natural winemaking, experimenting with extended skin fermentations, and exploring the potential of all of their planted grapes, 12 different white varieties and 13 red.

Gemischter Satz may mean mixed set, but in our mind, it means a world of possibilities, an astonishing potential of complexity and flavor, and, in the hands of Stefan and Alexander, purely delicious wines.