Description

It has been 15 years since Brigitte and Gerhard Pittnauer started to run the winery in Gols near Lake Neusiedl in Burgenland, at the eastern extremity of Austria bordering with Hungary. With only 3.8 hectares of vineyards they took over from Gerhard’s parents and dared to jump in at the proverbial deep end. In 2001 the construction of the striking and individually designed production hall in the middle of the vineyards allowed for a ‘quantum jump ” as far as quality and quantity is concerned. Today the Gerhard & Brigitte Pittnauer Winery ranks among Austria’s rising red wine producers. Gerhard is interested in bio-dynamics, which he’s now implementing in his vineyards, and he told me that he stopped spraying synthetic chemicals last year. ‘We only use sulphur and copper’, Gerhard emphasizes, ‘and we spray BD500 and BD501’. These are two of the biodynamic preparations that assist with plant and soil health. ‘We use a quad-bike as well as the tractor to spray, because this has less weight’, says Gerhard. ‘We use mechanical tilling, and this year I will try a natural green cover beneath the vines.’ – Importer Note