Sattlerhof

Gamlitz and the Sattler family

Willi and Maria Sattler built up Sattlerhof from the 1980s onward, focusing on the steep slopes around Gamlitz, in a microclimate between the Koralpe and the Slovenian border. Today their sons Alexander and Andreas Sattler run the winery. Sauvignon Blanc dominates most vineyards, alongside Morillon, Welschriesling, Pinot Blanc and Muscat. Origin is governed by the Südsteiermark DAC; Eichberg, home to the Marein vineyard, is one of the communities permitted to produce village wine.

Pfarrweingarten, Kapellenweingarten and the Marein vineyard

The Pfarrweingarten belongs to the family alone, a sheltered south-facing hollow with steep slopes at 380 metres, whose soils combine clay-and-marl opok with shell and coral limestone. The old vines there yield two wines: a Pinot Blanc that rests on the lees for eighteen months in small wooden casks, and a Morillon that spends just as long in 225- and 300-litre barriques, first and second fill.

At 600 metres, the Kapellenweingarten is the Sattlers' highest vineyard, with 20 to 70 percent slope on calcareous quartz and pebble gravel. The cool, airy microclimate delays ripening. The roughly 35-year-old Morillon vines are hand-selected, fermented spontaneously in a large, neutral wooden cask and aged there for two years. The Marein vineyard in Eichberg is a steep south-facing slope on a hilltop at 500 metres, enclosed by forests that keep it cool. There, roughly 30-year-old Muscat vines root in calcareous quartz and pebble gravel.

Sauvignon Blanc and the STK vineyards

Sauvignon Blanc comes from several vineyards around Gamlitz. The Alter Kranachberg vineyard carries the Grosse STK Lage classification, the Sernauberg vineyard that of 1. STK Lage, alongside Kranachberg, Trinkaus and the Kapellenweingarten. Opok marl and calcareous clay shape the Alter Kranachberg; this Sauvignon Blanc shows yellow tropical fruit over a dry, stony undertone. A late-release bottling of the same variety comes from Gamlitz, and a Pinot Noir from old vines.

Harvest and cellar ageing

The grapes are hand-harvested and brought to the cellar, where they are gently pressed and ferment spontaneously. Some receive extended skin contact, both the Muscat from the Marein vineyard and the Old Vines Welschriesling. Its vines are the winery's oldest, over forty years old, rooted at 250 to 450 metres in quartz and mica, quartz sands and calcareous gravel, in a vineyard with slopes of up to 80 percent; the wine matures in 300-litre casks.

The Muscat ferments in stainless steel and remains there until bottling, dry at 1.1 grams of residual sugar and 5 grams of acidity; elderflower, lime and vine peach come through clearly in the glass. Where wood is used, it takes the form of casks of 300 litres and up or barriques of first and second fill, and extended lees ageing gives the white wines from the Pfarrweingarten their texture.