Schmelzer’s Weingut is a Demeter-certified Biodynamic estate winery in the Austrian town of Gols in Burgenland, north of the Neusiedlersee (Seewinkel) in the Burgenland, Austria.

Owner: Georg Schmelzer (+43 699 17705 166). Fourth generation.

Mission statement: ‘The paths that we are treading with our wines in the fourth generation are diverse: we strive to work carefully and sustainably both in the vineyards and in the cellar. That can mean that we rethink supposed laws in order to get even closer to the originality. All options have one thing in common: respect for nature, which we feel obliged to care for and preserve with pleasure. In order to do our best, we not only rely on the knowledge of the generations before us, but also on a very original signal: intuition,’ Georg Schmelzer says.

‘This confirms to us that the path of gentle, intelligent biodynamics is the right one to follow our personal path, together and successfully with nature. We work our vineyards according to Demeter guidelines. Not only do we forego the use of pesticides and chemical pesticides, we also use biodynamic preparations to revitalize the soil and keep the vines healthy. The goal of our work is not to maximize, but to harmonize and support nature in its fertility – year after year. Our wines reflect the diversity of the region with its rich potential to give the different grape varieties their original expression. In addition, we also have sheep, chickens, rabbits, and bees.

Since 2016 the estate has worked the vines without both copper and sulfur. We use tea, spagyric tinctures and homeopathy in the vineyard to strengthen the plants.

Terroir: In Gols near Lake Neusiedl. Pannonian climate zone. Hot, dry summers and cold snowless winters, as well as moderate precipitation. An important factor for this special microclimate is the Neusiedler See, the largest steppe lake of Central Europe.

Vineyard: 2017 15 hectares (37 acres).

Single vineyards in Gols: Goldberg, Reitacker, Ungerberg.

Certification: 2016 First vintage with full Demeter Biodynamic certification.

Winemaking: ‘We vinify dry and sweet wines. We give the red wines aged in oak barrels the time they need to shape their characters. We only put them on sale when their flavor profile has been developed in a way that is typical of the variety. Our white wines are also vinified carefully and mostly by hand, whereby we reduce the technology to a minimum in favor of the original taste. In autumn 2013 we presented our sulfur-free and unfiltered wines “Magic of Renunciation” and “Simple and Moving” for the first time.’

Wines–Natural wines (9)–’Original, unfiltered. No added sulfites.’

Pet Nat Dion. Pétillant Naturel. | 2018: 80% Welschriesling, 20% Sämling 88. Ungerberg and Fürstliches Prädium vineyards. Soil: sand and gravel. Spontaneous fermentation with the estate’s own wild yeast. Before fermentation is complete, the fermenting wine is bottled without the addition of SO2 and unfiltered. 11.5 vol%  No added sulfites.

Grüner Veltliner:

Welschriesling:

Weissburgunder: Georg Schmelzer told me ‘the Weißburgunder grows on three types of soil: clay, gravel, sand. Dry farming. We hand harvest, taking the best grapes from each vineyard (Haide and Ungerberg) and put them together, creating a more multi-layered wine.’ | 2018 13.% alc. Hand picked. No added sulfites. Unfiltered. Lightly cloudy, plenty of texture, very fresh and very natural. Easily one of the best natural white wines I have tried (25 May 2021. | 2020 ‘Some extract and warmth from the orange wine, but also fresh fruitiness. This then comes together in the oak barrel. Handpicked like all our grapes, crushed, short maceration, strained, spontaneous fermentation, 18 months in different oak barrels,’ Georg Schmelzer told me.

Bicolor: From red and white grapes.

Zweigelt:

Zweigelt Selection:

Redition: Zweigelt, Cabernet Sauvignon, Roesler.

Raw Wines (5): ‘Unfiltered. No added sulfites, made only with gravity and muscle power.’

Orangewein, Frühroter Veltliner:

Orangewein Cuvée:

Roséwein, Zauber des Verzichts Rosè: 2015 Roesler. Lovely frank fruit (Demeter Austria tasting 2018).

Rot [‘red, not rotten], Zauber des Verzichts: Red (‘Rot’) wine. 2015 Roesler.

Wildwuchs: The name means ‘wild growth’.Cabernet Sauvignon. 332 days in Qvevri. Matured directly in the vineyard.

Wines–Klassiche Weine: (The classic range).

Wines–Originäre Weine: This means unfiltered wines with no added sulfites (‘unfiltriert und nicht geschwefelt’).

Pet nat: 2017 White sparkling wine. Welschriesling and Scheurebe. 12% alcohol. 6 or 7 g/l residual sugar. Refreshing fruit, slight reduction (Demeter Austria tasting 2018).

Grüner Veltliner: 2016 24 hours skin contact. Pressed. juice fermented off skins. Very soft, slightly evolved and beer-like (Demeter Austria tasting 2018).

Weissburgunder, Neusiedlersee Weissburgunder: 2015 24 months in old oak. Very salty, a little beer-like but agreeable, nice weight (Demeter Austria tasting 2018). | 

Zweigelt: 2015 Aged in 2,000-litre cask of Slavonian oak.

Zweigelt, Selection:

Wines–Orange Wines (White wines fermented on skins. Unfiltered. No added sulfites).

Fruhroter Veltliner: 2015 On skins for 6 weeks. Racked. 24 months in barrel. Salty-soft beer-like white (Demeter Austria tasting 2018).

Orange Cuvée: 2015 Blend of Pinot Blanc, Gruner Veltliner and Scheurebe.

Weissburgunder, Neusiedlersee Weissburgunder: 2018 100% Weissburgunder from Neusiedlersee, Burgenland. Demeter certified. From two wineyards called Haide (30 year old vines) and Ungerberg (35 year old vines). Three types of soil: clay, gravel, sand. Dry farmed. Hand picked. Destemmed. Not pressed. 24 hours skin contact. Spontaneous fermentation in steel-tank. In mid-fermentation the tank is stirred, then the fermenting wine is racked to small oak barrels where the fermentation slowly comes to an end. Goes though malolactic fermentation. Bottled after about 14 months. No added sulphur, unfiltered. 13% alc. Winemaker: Georg Schmelzer. Bright gold, ripe peach, glaze, herbs, bready.

Red wines

Cabernet Sauvignon:

Furstliches Prädium Cuvée Rot: Red blend. | 2013 75% Blaufrankisch and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon. 36 months in new oak. Crisp if faded fruit and the Cabernet tannins had yet to settle (Demeter Austria tasting 2018).

Zweigelt Reserve: 2015: From the best vineyards: Haide, Pahlen and Schmalergrund. Soil: clay, gravel and also sandy. Hand-picking. Fermented with the grapes’ own wild yeast, 36 months on the fine lees (225 litre barrels). No added sulfites. No filtration. Alcohol: 14.5 Vol%.

Other crops: Grape juice (‘Traubensaft’) made from Welschriesling, Zweigelt etc.

Contact

Familie Georg Schmelzer (Weingut)

Heideweg, 3 

A-7122 Gols, Austria

Tel+43 (0)2173 2573 | Website: www.schmelzer.at 

Bibliography

Demeter Austria tasting, Vienna 26th February 2018