Burgundian Österreich
This wine estate is the Austrian role model for Burgundian grape varieties past and present. No other producer in the country can look back on such a dependably high quality of these varieties over such a long time span. Georg Stiegelmar began his career at JURI in 1967 and initially specialized in sweet wine until he discovered that he had an intuitively good hand for the fickle varieties St. Laurent and Pinot noir. The doyen of viniculture in Gols was awarded “Winemaker of the year 1995” by the Wine and Spirit Competition in London. Robert Mondavi complimented Georg’s efforts with the words “total command of winemaking”.
Standards were set quite high, but son Axel was able to meet expectations and continue and further improve from the solid foundation laid by his parents. He seems to have inherited his father’s sensitive hand for the Burgundian varieties. He has managed the estate together with his wife, Herta, since 1995. The Stiegelmars have since tripled the estate’s vineyard area which now includes vineyards in Hungary that are marketed under the “Villa Juris” label. A further achievement is the world’s first passive energy wine storage facility.
The JURIS assortment includes not only white and red wines, but also sparkling and sweet wines. The “Selection” wines Chardonnay Altenberg, St. Laurent and Pinot noir exhibit superbly defined primary fruit and are not influenced with new oak. These excellent, particularly food-friendly wines offer tremendous quality and enjoyment for their price.
The “Reserve” wines Pinot noir and St. Laurent as well as the blend from the two varieties called St. Georg are sourced from old vines in the best vineyard sites of Gols. The Pinot noir grapes for the Reserve and St. Georg grow in the late ripening, chalky vineyards Haide and Breitenteil. The source of the St. Laurent is the Goldberg, a northeast facing slope across from Altenberg. The cool, dry gravel and sand of this site yieldd small-berried, thick skinned St. Laurent. These three Reserve wines are timeless classics of Austrian red wine culture. For 30 years they have set the standards in Austria for Pinot noir and St. Laurent of great finesse. Grapes for St. Georg are hand selected during the harvest. It has a slightly longer maceration, higher fermentation temperature, more new oak and is the most powerful of the three wines. All three mature for one year in small oak barrels and a half year in large wooden cask. They are first released on the market three years after the harvest and typically achieve the beginning of their peak after 10 years while continuing to offer drinking pleasure for several more.
Completing the assortment of wines according to old Burgenland tradition, are sweet botrytized wines as vintages allow. Particular attention should also be given the JURIS Brut, a classy sparkling wine based on Chardonnay with a touch of Sauvignon blanc. This elegant wine is produced with a special focus on structure and maturity. Classic second fermentation in the bottle and two years on the yeast lend a creamy texture. A 1976 Pinot blanc Beerenauslese serves as dosage. The Rosé Brut is a rare sparkling wine specialty made from 100% St. Laurent. It too is bottle fermented and makes an elegant and refreshing impression.
Axel‘s current passion is a study of terroir. Since 2004 he has been producing a very limited quantity of Pinot Noir from four very different vineyard parcels. Haide is situated in the large Gols vineyard. Breitenteil is a wind exposed site directly on the Parndorf Plateau where cooler temperatures promote intense fruit aromas. Unger is a cool, extremely chalky site at the foot of Ungerberg. Only a short distance away also under the Ungerberg bordering the Parndorf Plateaus is the chalk-free site Hochreit. The Hochreit challenges the oenological skills most and is perhaps for that reason the vintner’s favourite. Each Pinot noir seems to amplify its terroir. These are wines for true wine lovers, for “Terroirists” – fans of fine-grained tannins, red berry fruit and intense minerality. These extraordinary wines exhibit their unique origins and vintage.
(Julia Sevenich)