The terrace lives up to its name in even a double sense. On the one side one bounces after a few centimetres upon a thick layer of lime, through which thick vine roots burst their way in their search for water. On the other side the Kalkofen (lime-stove) heats up so intensely through summer time that it is just possible to work in its vineyards in the early hours of the day. The wines coming out of the Kalkofen do not renounce their origin at all. They seem to be warmer and a bit softer than wines from other places. The reason why it is still possible to vinify great wines from its vineyards is due to the lime which constricts their opulence and gives them a touch of tautness.

Our main vineyard just a view metres away from our estate. The Zornberg starts gently but rapidly ascends which leads to a highly diverse geological structure. In the flatter part, deep layers of soils amassed which become more barren by the metre. The soil gets thereby colder and also the nutritional supply changes. No wonder that the development of the vines – in our case Neuburger and Riesling – is very often completely diverse. The Zornberg is a difficult vineyard which, once you know his particularities, offers the basis for complex and subtle wines.

It is usually fun to work in the Biern – if the weather is nice I am able to look into the woods of the Jauerling from where falling winds influence the whole Spitzer Graben. The Biern is steep but it is also perfectly terraced and there is enough space to care for the Riesling and Veltliner vines. However the Biern is not as coherent as one would suppose from a single vineyard. While red clay influences one part, the so called “Red Biern”, stony and shallow soils dominate in the other one, the so called “White Biern”.

The vineyard is not as well-known as other terraces in the Spitzer Graben. The reason is simple: the Point lies on the North facing part near the Jauerling and is not as steep as the other terraces and single vineyards. Therefore, on its top, it is round as a football. This sounds peculiar but also opens up undreamt-of possibilities. On the one hand the soil consists throughout of loess and is thereby an alternative to the schist substratum of the steep vineyards on the other hand the uneven expositions provide for different grades of ripeness.

The geographical variation in my vineyard-repertoire. The Liebenberg is one of the four steep terraces which raises behind the Danube-bending between Dürnstein and Weissenkirchen. The Veltliner vines are at the bottom where material amassed and resulted in deep soils. The vines look directly to the south and since they are also influenced by the Pannonian warmth of the east, they ripe earlier and develop a more dense and soft character than the wines from the Graben.