Michael Gindl

Austria

Dec 3

The Gindl farm, which has been in the family since 1807, has long practiced mixed agriculture. Conventional crops and livestock, as well as forestry and wine production share the attention of the land and the people who work it. Michael Gindl, born in 1983, had already begun managing the family’s winemaking operation by the time he graduated agricultural school in 2002. Taking over the entire farm soon after, Michael began steering their operations toward biodynamics and total self-sufficiency. This meant expanding the farm’s acreage, adding new animal species, and working more broadly to align his practices with the ideals and standards of the Demeter association of biodynamic farming.

Michael’s efforts at optimization are relentless. In the past decade, he has begun breeding highland cattle, as well as horses to work in his 10 hectares of vines. Breton dwarf sheep pull their weight by grazing in the vineyards, and pigs are the object of the Gindl farm’s nascent butchering operation. Increasingly favoring wooden barrels over steel tanks, Michael harvests acacia and oak from his own forests to construct vessels for fermentation and aging. Increasingly, the dynamic and varied practices at work on the Gindl estate allow it to closely embody the biodynamic ideal of a holistic, autonomous farm.

Michael’s grapes are harvested by hand and pressed very gently before undergoing a spontaneous fermentation without the assistance of selected yeast or temperature control. The wines are rarely racked, and are always left unfined and unfiltered, with zero or minimal added sulfur. In summation of his winemaking practices, Michael says: “I really try to do as little as possible – in fact, nothing!”

CUVÉES

“L’Étrangère Die Ausländerin”

**Grape:** Grüner Veltliner
**Vineyard:** Eben and Staatz vineyard, practicing biodynamic, 40+ year old vines, loam soil
**Winemaking:** grapes from Eben vineyard direct press into barrel, destemmed berries added on top of the juice, barrel topped up with juice from Staatz vineyard. racked twice, bottled in Feb 2023.
**Added S02:** 20mg/l before bottling
Lainie Taillefer is a nomadic winemaker who made her first wine at MicroBio Wines in Spain in 2019. She spent the 2022 harvest making this wine at the domaine of Michael Gindl.

Michi’s Farm White

**Grape:** Grüner Veltliner, Gelber Muskateller, Riesling. Certified organic fruit from neighbors in Weinviertel.
**Soil:** loam, loess, sandstone
**Winemaking:** fermentation in a mix of stainless steel and used barrels
**Aging:** on fine lees
**Added S02:** none

“SOL”

**Grape:** Pinot Blanc, Grüner Veltliner
**Soil:** loam, loess, sandstone
**Average Age of Vines:** 45 years
**Winemaking:** destemmed, *pigéage*, 12 hour maceration of 50% of the grapes, 8 hour slow press, 4 month maceration of 50% of the grapes
**Aging:** 18 months in oak barrels
**Added S02:** none

“Buteo”

**Grape:** Grüner Veltliner
**Soil:** loam, loess, sandstone
**Winemaking:** 4-8 hour maceration, 8 hour slow press, spontaneous fermentation in oak
**Aging:** 6 months in oak
**Added S02:** none

“Buteo 12”

**Grape:** Grüner Veltliner
**Soil:** loam, loess, sandstone
**Winemaking:** 10 hour maceration, 8 hour slow press, spontaneous fermentation in wood
**Aging:** 12 months in acacia barrels
**Added S02:** none

“Sodalis” Weissburgunder

**Grape:** Pinot Blanc
**Soil:** loam, loess, sandstone
**Average Age of Vines:** 30-35 years
**Winemaking:** 5 day maceration, 2-4 month spontaneous fermentation in new oak
**Aging:** 12 months in new oak
**Added S02:** minimal

“Red Bessi”

**Grape:** Zweigelt, Cabernet Sauvignon
**Soil:** loam, loess, sandstone
**Winemaking:** whole cluster, 6 month spontaneous fermentation on skins
**Aging:** Zweigelt spends 24 months in new oak, Cabernet Sauvignon spends 12 months in new oak
**Added S02:** minimal

Michi’s Farm Orange

**Grape:** Grüner Veltliner, Gelber Muskateller, Riesling. Certified organic fruit from neighbors in Weinviertel.
**Soil:** loam, loess, sandstone
**Winemaking:** 3 weeks of maceration on the skins, fermentation in a mix of stainless steel and used barrels
**Aging:** on lees
**Added S02:** none

Michi’s Farm Red

**Grape:** Zweigelt, Blauer Portugieser, Cabernet Sauvignon. Certified organic fruit sourced from neighbors in Weinviertel.
**Soil:** loam, loess, sandstone
**Winemaking:** Whole cluster fermentation in stainless steel, then transferred to a mix of stainless steel and old wooden barrels
**Aging:** 9 months
**Added S02:** minimal

“Flora”

**Grape:** Riesling, Sämling 88, Gelber Muskateller
**Soil:** loam, loess, sandstone
**Winemaking:** 3 hour maceration of Gelber Muskateller and Sämling 88, 18 hour maceration of Riesling, 8 hour slow press, spontaneous fermentation in staineless steel
**Aging:** 6 months in stainless steel
**Added S02:** none

“Little Buteo”

**Grape:** Grüner Veltliner
**Soil:** loam, loess, sandstone
**Winemaking:** 50% direct press, 50% 4-8 hour maceration, spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel
**Aging:** 6 months in stainless steel
**Added S02:** none

“Sodalis” Riesling

**Grape:** Riesling
**Soil:** loam, loess, sandstone
**Average Age of Vines:** 20-25 years
**Winemaking:** 2 day maceration, spontaneous fermentation in neutral acacia
**Aging:** 12 months in neutral acacia
**Added S02:** none

“Bubbles Pet Nat”

**Grape:** Roesler, Blauburgunder
**Soil:** gravel, loess
**Average Age of Vines:** 21-31 years
**Winemaking:** 4 day spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel
**Aging:** *méthode ancestrale*
**Added S02:** none

“White Bessi”

**Grape:** Weißburgunder, Sämling, Zweigelt
**Soil:** loam, loess, sandstone
**Average Age of Vines:** 20-40 years
**Winemaking:** 3-6 month spontaneous fermentation in oak
**Aging:** 12-36 months in oak
**Added S02:** minimal

“Nanu!?”

**Grape:** Zweigelt
**Soil:** loam, loess, sandstone
**Average Age of Vines:** 20-45 years
**Winemaking:** direct press, spontaneous fermentation in amphora
**Aging:** 6 months in barrels *sur lie*
**Added S02:** minimal

Sara Ali

Michael Gindl

CUVÉES

Weingut Werlitsch

Judith Beck

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