Stift Klosterneuburg St Laurent 2020

Dating from 1114, and thus the oldest winery in Austria, Stift Klosterneuburg sits in the grounds of the monastery of Klosterneuburg, occupying tranquil spot just 10km from the suburbs of Vienna. Their 900 hundred years of unbroken winemaking heritage shows here, and they farm their 108 hectares with devotion, which should be no surprise to anyone since the estate is still in the hands of the Augustinian order of monks. They own vines in four very fine sites, at Klosterneuburg itself, Vienna, Gumpoldskirchen and Tattendorf, each with its own terroir profile which has, together with all those centuries of trial and error, meant that they have planted the right vines in the right place.

There are 17 varieties all told, with the whites planted closer to Vienna while the reds grow further south in Thermenregion. Grüner veltiner, riesling and weissburgunder (aka pinot blanc) dominate the white varieties, and St. Laurent, zweigelt and pinot noir the reds. All are sustainably farmed, with a care for the environment. In the Baroque cellars the ceilings are vaulted and delve 118 feet underground on four levels, but there is nothing medieval about the winemaking technology used here. It’s state of the art and carbon neutral to boot, reusing the heat of the fermentations and employing a biomass power plant. Visited by thousands throughout the year thanks to its proximity to the beautiful city of Vienna, this is a historic place with one eye on the future.