Rosi Schuster
Although the estate still bears the name of his winemaker mother Rosi, since 2007 Weingut Rosi Schuster has been in the extremely capable hands of son, Hannes Schuster. Garnering international attention and multiple accolades, his beautiful and elegant reflections of Austrian native varieties continue to charm and wow us vintage after vintage.
Not only are his wines pure expressions of Burgundian terroir they are also, eminently drinkable. Hannes has taken his family estate to a new level with his commitment to organic farming, a nurturing approach in the vineyard and a minimalist ideology in the cellar. Since his first release, he has embraced gentle and natural winemaking, utilizing spontaneous fermentation, long lees aging and low amounts of sulphur.
Hannes says he finds native Sankt Laurent and Blaufrankisch to be the best expression of his vineyards. The two red grapes now comprise 75% of his production and come from an array of amazing sites and soil types ranging from heavy loam to sandstone, gravel and limestone and are spread across 40 small parcels within six villages - Sankt Margarethen, Zagersdorf, Oslip, Schutzen Am Gebirge, Donnerskirchen and Mullendorf. In total he cultivates 14 hectares of which 13 hectares are currently under vines with another smaller but fascinating emphasis on Gruner Veltliner, Chardonnay and Furmint to name a few of the white grapes blended into his village level Gemishter Satz blend. As with all his wines, there are no single vineyard bottlings, instead the emphasis is on healthy soils, deeply rooted vines producing clean grapes which are hand harvested and blended to show the terroir of these villages.
To their core, the wines of the Schuster estate represent the land and villages that comprise Burgenland, one of the oldest winemaking regions of Europe, with vineyards that deeply express the varied geological events of the Pannonian basin. Simply put, terroir at its best, unadulterated and purely delicious.