Sattlerhof
Everyone who has visited the Sattlerhof winery has seen a piece of the most beautiful landscape that our earth has on its head. Located in southern Styria, the farm is surrounded by green forests, between which are extremely steep vineyards and vines enjoying their life. The Mediterranean climate is refreshed by the winds coming from the Adriatic Sea and the Alps, which is why all the wines have an extremely fresh acidity. The estate consists of 35 hectares rising south of the town of Gamlitz. Since 2019, the farm has only used grapes from its own orchards. All vineyards are certified for organic viticulture and gentle, vine-respecting working methods ensure that the quality of the grapes they produce is maximum. We are considering whether the Sattlers would switch to completely biodynamic production in the future.
The secret behind the well-being of the farm's vines is Willi, who together with his children works tirelessly in his nurseries, sharing his passion and love for his plots. Willi started taking care of the farm's orchards when he was only 22 years old, although his father had already focused the production of the family farm established in 1884 on wine growing. In recent years, Will's sons Andreas and Alexander have taken over the responsibility for garden work and winemaking from their father, whose account has been left with the use of tractors and other work machines. Although the young men share decision-making and responsibilities, Andreas mainly works in the basement, while his younger brother Alexander loves to spend his time among the vines in the nurseries. Will's daughter Michaela, who studied arts, has designed some of the estate's wine labels, and the youngest, Lukas, who has a degree in graphic design, also shares his creative ideas with the rest of the family. Anna and Markus, the children of Will's brother Hannes, work in the restaurant business like their father, Anna in a two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Macau, and Markus with his father in the kitchen of a restaurant that fulfills the dreams of culinary enthusiasts working in connection with a winery.
Sattlerhof's wine style focuses on the production of grape wines with pure characteristics. All the farm's grapes are picked by hand in 12 kg boxes and transported to the farm in cool conditions. The skins of Sauvignon Blanc and Muskateller are allowed to be in contact with the juice for 12-16 hours, which gives the wines as much texture as possible. The grapes are pressed gently and gravity is utilized in all movement of the wine. The wines are made in small batches as needed, so that their full potential can be utilized. Village and garden wines all ferment spontaneously without added yeasts, and the acid or sugar levels of any wine are not manipulated. Most of the white wines age in temperature-controlled steel tanks and their malolactic fermentation naturally does not take place. The Burgundian varieties Morillon and Weissburgunder are allowed to mature in small oak barrels, in which case they also ferment malolactically. All wine is vegan-friendly, as only bentonite is used in the clarification process. Village and orchard level wines are sealed with Vinoloks, which enable the slow and sophisticated development of the wines to last for years.
Sattlerhof belongs to the Steirische Terroir & Klassik Weingüter (STK) group together with 11 other producers in the region.
The farm's annual production is around 140,000 bottles. The producer has a respect-BIODYN certificate.
