Since 1803, the Wohlmuth family has been producing wine in the southern Styrian town of Kitzeck im Sausal, the highest wine-growing village in Austria. Over the years, little has changed in their work - just as in the old days, the solid slate rocks on the surface of the vineyards have to be pounded with hammers, and every single vine has to be painstakingly worked into the barren soil. The quality of the wines is the result of meticulous manual work, from pruning to selective hand harvesting. Respect for natural resources is reflected in the renunciation of herbicides and insecticides. There is no irrigation, and the vines on the steepest slopes are still scythed.
The vineyards are located between 400 and 600 metres above sea level and, with slopes of up to 90 per cent, are among the steepest in Europe. Up to 1,200 work hours are put into each hectare of these extreme vineyards yearly. A distinctive slate minerality is found in all the estate's wines, demonstrating how deeply rooted the vines are in the soil that dominates the Kitzeck-Sausal appellation.
For generations, the Wohlmuth family has owned some of Austria's earliest single vineyard sites, such as the Edelschuh vineyard, which was first documented in 1322. These historically significant single vineyards are maintained and preserved at great expense and occasionally painstakingly replanted. They produce wines of provenance characterised by a tension between warmth (Illyrian climate, ripe grapes) and coolness (alpine influence, slate soils, high altitude).
