Winery Umathum

Adress: A-7132 Frauenkirchen St. Andräer Straße 7
Country: Austria
internet: http://www.umathum.at
Wine district: Neusiedlersee
wines

The winery is mainly known for its authentic red wines but Josef Umathum also presses some very fascinating white wines. He has revived the original, pannonic, white grape variety Lindenblättriger in the Burgenland and the rare varieties of Gelber Traminer and Pinot gris are also being cultivated.

The Austrian red wine varieties of Zweigelt, St. Laurent and Blaufränkisch make up about 85 percent of the 30 hectares under cultivation. On both banks of Lake Neusiedl a wide range of different soils are cultivated including slate, lime, clay and pebble. The most important sites are Ried Hallebühl, Vom Stein, Haideboden and Kirschgarten, where the only stone terrace site of the Burgenland is cultivated.

"Lively soils and alert plants point us in the right direction and give us the necessary inspiration on how to interact with them" says Josef Umathum about his attitude to wine-growing. And here the vines are looked at from a different point of view. "Plants have a memory and to maintain these genes, we select our vines from our ancient vineyards."

The vineyard operates in clear structures of organic agriculture, after the philosphy of Rudolf Steiner. The aim is to bring the mature and healthy vines undamaged into the cellar and therefore the grapes are only hand-picked. Cellar work is undertaken with care and the wines are matured mainly in wooden barrels.

The high-quality, stored wines are only offered for sale after being stored for three years.

The unusual support programs for young talents from the agricultural sector are unique and are seen as providing a helping hand when starting up. All those who have benefited from this such as the vegetable producer Erich Stekovics or the vintner Uwe Schiefer were formerly unknown and are today big names in their own fields.