Weingut Haider

Tradition might be a keyword here.

In Burgenland, nearby Neusiedlersee, a tradition of late-harvested and noble sweet wines exists. Probably the one to truly bring international recognition and attention to the potential of the Burgenland region was Alois Kracher – So young Gerhard Haider (who was out of a family of vintners dating back to 1870) thought: ‘Who better to learn from than the best?’ Probably he found the logical answer: No one. That we conclude since he got an apprenticeship at Alois Kracher. With all his newly gained knowledge he returned to the family estate and is now leading the daily production.

Famed for the late harvest and noble sweet wines Gerhard is a brightly shining, upcoming star of Austria. His talent is evident; we’re sure that many winemakers would envy a young guy who makes such astonishing wine simply led by his gutfeeling (okay, okay a lot of knowledge and skill as well, admitted!) as he descibes being one of the most important factors in the way he makes wine. “I’m more of a laid back, social guy who can’t be unsettled too easily” he says. Now that is cool and something we definitely all could learn a lesson or two from: chill out and listen to your gut-feeling! (…Well… guess it requires quiet a portion of talent to suceed that way… so maybe not for everyone anyway…). Point is: We are huge fans! Having made the transcition towards organic winemakring shows that it's also possible to make sweet wine organic even with all that extra sugar available for fermentaion.

Since the first time we tried the rose: ”Pink by Theresa Haider” - we've been in love with it – the freshness, taste of red berries(Strawberries, Raspberries, Red Currant) with a slight lactic yoghurt, has been a true classic, I've presented this wine to sommeliers who normally dislike rose and convinced them it's all about the product since this was something would would truly enjoy.

In the vineyard

• vineyards are cultivated organic
• "we are using the power of cultures (clover varieties, vicia, and natural occuring plants) between the rows to build up a good ecosystem; additional we are working with a neighbored organic farmer, wich delivers us great manure for building up more humus - food for the vines, our small helpers in the soil, and the covering plants" - Gerhard Haider
• No use of insecticides and herbicides.
• Mechanical intervention under the vines if necessary
• "We are thinning leaves and shoots by hand and also: less is more - due to the hot summers we are trying to protect the grapes from the sun as good as possible" - Gerhard Haider
• In combination with less tractor use, a big photovoltaic array and an intelligent heating and cooling system, more energy is produced than needed for the winery.

In the winenery

• All wines fermented spontaneous,
• experience in making spontaneous fermented dessert wines since the 1960s.
• no use of barrels excepting some barrique aged red wines. and also in this case with a very small influence of toasting and barrel notes.

Wine info:

Eiswein Grüner Veltliner 2023:

• organic grown grüner veltliner grapes night harvested by hand on 4.12.2023 at -8°C
• pressing then natural sedimentation by gravity for 5 days slow fermentation by spontaneous yeast after reaching a good balance of sugar, acidity and alcohol:
• cooling down for 2 weeks then filtering and adding sulfites for the first time.
• fining: only by bentonite, a natural clay mineral wich removes proteins in the wine wich are produced by the vines. because this proteins can later cause unwanted clouding in the bottle.

Pink by Theresa Haider:

• organic grown blaufränkisch and cabernet sauvignon grapes handpicked
• whole bunch pressed
• natural sedimentation for 24hours
• spontaneous fermentation at a max. temperature of 19°C after fermentation:
• staying on the lees for 5 months and stirring 3 times a month for good ripening and stability
• sulfites added before bottling,
• no fining,
• no filtering