NEWS & TERMINE

Welcome to our latest winery update! We are delighted to introduce the single-vineyard wines of the 2023 vintage from Weingut Alphart am Mühlbach – wines deeply rooted in the heritage and region, reflecting winemaker Lorenz Alphart's profound connection to his homeland. In the historic Thermenregion, where our vines thrive in the finest sites, indigenous wines of exceptional quality are crafted. Rotgipfler and Zierfandler at their finest.

Before diving into the highlights of the 2023 vintage, we’d like to provide a brief update on the 2024 harvest:
Despite weather-related challenges and initial uncertainties, a golden autumn combined with our meticulous handwork has yielded a promising vintage. True to the motto "small but fine," you can look forward to wines rich in finesse and character.

While the 2024 vintage now rests in our cellar, the single-vineyard wines of 2023 are now available.

In 2023, the Thermenregion offered a unique interplay of challenging yet advantageous weather conditions for our vines. A dry winter was followed by a rainy and relatively cool March and April. Budbreak occurred later than usual, at the end of April, due to the cool temperatures, which this year spared the vines from the risk of late frost.

Spring was hesitant to make an appearance in May, with temperatures only starting to rise steadily by mid-month. Flowering began in Gumpoldskirchen in mid-June. “The late start to flowering is considered a positive,” explains winemaker Lorenz Alphart, “as later flowering also means later ripening – ideal for benefiting from the more moderate daytime temperatures and cooler nights of autumn.”

By the end of June, summer finally arrived, bringing with it a prolonged heatwave that lasted until late August. Despite the intense heat, the vines suffered no drought damage. Our soils initially drew on water reserves built up in spring, while intermittent rainfall – particularly heavy showers in early August – brought much-needed relief.

The region’s typical early September rains, followed by warm but moderate temperatures, ushered in autumn, providing the grapes with ideal conditions for their final ripening phase. The main harvest began in the third and fourth weeks of September and was completed by early October. Thanks to the cool nights, the grapes retained their valuable acidity, while sugar levels rose steadily without spiking.

“We are thrilled to have once again brought healthy and perfectly ripened grapes into the cellar,” says Lorenz Alphart. The result: A vintage characterized by finesse, freshness, and optimal balance, showcasing the unique qualities of the Thermenregion and the dedication of our team.

It is with great pride that I now present to you our single-vineyard wines from the 2023 vintage.

Lorenz Alphart
Winemaker at winery Alphart am Mühlbach

Rotgipfler Ried Mandelhöh 2023

Description: Finest tropical fruit with a subtle hint of the typical Rotgipfler aromatics – instead, this wine impresses with pure minerality. Salty, incredibly complex, and long-lasting, with a touch of smoky elegance.

Terroir: Orientation: Southeast | Altitude: 230–260 m
The soil consists of shallow, highly calcareous (shell limestone) loose sedimentary brown earth, made of colluvial, washed-out fine and coarse material deposited around 16 million years ago in the ancient sea that once covered this area.

Vinification: Careful hand harvesting, 8 hours of maceration, spontaneous fermentation, and aging in large oak barrels and concrete eggs.

Alcohol: 13.5% Vol. | Acidity: 6.0 g/l | Residual Sugar: 1 g/l

Rotgipfler Ried Pressweingarten 2023

Description: Our quintessential Rotgipfler. Exciting tropical fruit nuances on the nose and palate, combined with the unmistakable spiciness of the vineyard site.

Terroir: Orientation: Southeast | Altitude: 220–250 m
The soil is a deep, calcareous (shell limestone) loose sedimentary brown earth. It has a high clay and loam content, excellent water retention, and ample water supply.

Vinification: Careful hand harvesting, 10 hours of maceration, spontaneous fermentation, and aging in large, old wooden barrels for 12 months.

Alcohol: 14.0% Vol. | Acidity: 5.9 g/l | Residual Sugar: 1.0 g/l

Zierfandler Ried Otzler 2023

Description: Delicately structured with intense herbal and citrus aromas. On the palate, remarkably pure with herbal-mineral notes and subtle reductive hints. Bone-dry, rich in finesse, and complex.

Terroir: Orientation: Southeast | Altitude: 210–220 m
The soil is deep, highly calcareous (shell limestone) loose sedimentary brown earth, composed of colluvial, washed-out fine and coarse material with moderate stone content. Partly underlain with gravel from ancient riverbeds.

Vinification: Careful hand harvesting, 12 hours of maceration, spontaneous fermentation, and aging in large wooden barrels and amphorae.

Alcohol: 13.0% Vol. | Acidity: 5.8 g/l | Residual Sugar: 1 g/l

Zierfandler Ried Pfarrweingarten 2023

New to Our Collection

Description: A delicately spiced bouquet of fresh mountain herbs and citrus fruits, paired with exciting tropical fruit aromas. Full-bodied and complex on the palate.

Terroir: Orientation: Southeast | Altitude: 250–320 m
The soil is a medium to deep sandy-loamy brown earth. The subsoil contains coarse deposits with angular components (breccia) and rounded elements (gravel and conglomerate). The nearby forest edge significantly influences the vineyard with its cooling air currents.

Vinification: Careful hand harvesting, 12 hours of maceration, spontaneous fermentation, and aging in large wooden barrels and stainless steel tanks.

Alcohol: 13.0% Vol. | Acidity: 6.1 g/l | Residual Sugar: 2 g/l

Chardonnay Ried Ruffenbrunn 2023

Description: A pronounced nose of vineyard peach and yellow tropical fruit. On the palate, finely creamy and long-lasting with an invigorating acidity arc. Subtle mineral-reductive herbal texture on the finish.

Terroir: Orientation: Southwest | Altitude: 210–220 m
The soil is a very shallow para-brown earth with a high proportion of fine and coarse sediments, formed about 16 million years ago in the Vienna Basin Sea. The subsoil contains a high proportion of gravel with moderately high limestone content in some areas.

Vinification: Careful hand harvesting, whole-bunch pressing, spontaneous fermentation, and aging in large wooden barrels.

Alcohol: 13.0% Vol. | Acidity: 6.0 g/l | Residual Sugar: 3 g/l

Rotgifpler Ried Mandelhöh Limited Edition 2023

Description: A Rotgipfler of exceptional class. Boldly puristic, it effortlessly highlights the delicate nuances of our top vineyard, Ried Mandelhöh. Subtly reductive, with salty and chalky notes.

Terroir: Orientation: Southeast | Altitude: 230–260 m
The soil is a shallow, highly calcareous (shell limestone) loose sedimentary brown earth, composed of colluvial, washed-out fine and coarse material deposited about 16 million years ago in the ancient sea that once covered this region.

Vinification: Careful hand harvesting, 8 hours of maceration, spontaneous fermentation of free-run juice in old wooden barrels, and 15 months of lees aging. Bottled unfiltered.

Available: Summer 2025 – Limited quantities. Reservations are possible.

Chardonnay Ried Tagelsteiner 2023

Description: Delicate notes of yellow fruits and light blossoms accentuate the salty bouquet of this Chardonnay. A subtly reductive hint of flint and incense graces both the nose and palate. Juicy and elegant with a mineral-driven fruit interplay. Unfiltered.

Terroir: Orientation: Southeast | Altitude: ~240 m
The soil is a very shallow para-brown earth dominated by fine to coarse-grained components (gravel and conglomerate), formed about 16 million years ago in the Vienna Basin Sea. The limestone content is exceptionally high.

Vinification: Careful hand harvesting, whole-bunch pressing, spontaneous fermentation of the entire free-run juice (without sedimentation) in old oak barrels, followed by 18 months of aging.

Available: Summer 2025 – Limited quantities. Reservations are possible.

With the 2023 vintage, the Thermenregion (Lower Austria) is officially recognized as a DAC region.

For our winery, not much will change, as we have been practicing the origin pyramid (regional, village, and single-vineyard wines) since 2017. However, there are a few new details that we would like to share with you.

The wine-growing municipalities of Traiskirchen, Pfaffstätten, Gumpoldskirchen, and Guntramsdorf have been united under the village wine designation Gumpoldskirchen. While this might sound confusing at first, the terroir across these areas is cohesive. Political boundaries don’t always align with geological ones, and historically, the entire wine-growing region in this area was known as Gumpoldskirchen.

For us, this opens up new opportunities to craft our village wines.

Being able to produce our village wines from an even broader range of sites allows us to create wines with greater depth and complexity, which also brings a subtle stylistic shift this year.

Our efforts to highlight the authentic character of our region and typical grape varieties in every glass are further refined by these changes. New for the 2023 vintage, our village wines will include 15–20% spontaneously fermented wines aged in small, old Austrian oak barrels. This enhances both the regional expression and complexity of our wines.

The following village wines have been available since May 2024:

• Chardonnay Gumpoldskirchen Thermenregion DAC 2023
• Zierfandler Gumpoldskirchen Thermenregion DAC 2023
• Rotgipfler Gumpoldskirchen Thermenregion DAC 2023