Hofer

  Auersthal is just barely beyond Vienna’s northern suburbs, in a dead-still little wine village in the Weinviertel.  Hofer belongs to a group called Bio-Ernte which has standards above the EU guidelines.  The vineyards lie in a rain-shadow and have to endure hot summers. In fact Hofer plants his Riesling in a fog-pocket as he gets so little rain. The wines are pressed conventionally (no whole-cluster) with skin contact, and all whites are done in stainless steel.

• Certified-Organic Estate
• Vineyard area: 15 hectares
• Top sites: Freiberg, Kirchlissen
• Soil types: Sandy loam, with loess-loam and some clay; light soils