KOPPITSCH

As usual, we showed up for our meeting late and hungover. We had been to Stephanie & Eduard’s (Gut Oggau) harvest party the day before and continued drinking until the early hours. We promised our fellow travellers McDonald’s breakfast sandwiches if we left on time, an ironic food choice if you consider our destination: Alex & Maria Koppitsch’s house for an early tasting.

They’re located in Neusiedl am See just north of the lake in Burgenland. We navigated the construction on their street happy to see that even legendary winemakers must deal with slow-moving road repairs. Maria welcomed us inside, immediately cheerful and warm. Her reputation as a generous host was not overstated. We sat around their kitchen table and chatted about their small estate, originally owned by Alex’s family.

The second we started tasting, everyone immediately perked up. The wines were vivid and full of energy. The flavours popped and crackled - they were joyous. Maria ran the show while Alex and their friend/harvest intern Lena (formerly of June in Brooklyn) entertained their three rambunctious kids. From ethereal frothy pet-nats to sumptuous reds, they really hit the whole spectrum.

Their farming mantra is biodynamics. Historically, Alex was a stickler for precision, spending almost every second making sure each leaf was in the optimal position. After contracting Covid-19 and suffering from its long-term effects, Alex has had to step back a little, letting nature regain its foothold. Shockingly, a lighter spraying regime and less stringent canopy management led to an increase in quality. This shift in thinking, a surrender to the ebbs and flows of a living vineyard, have created an even better work/life balance - an essential but seldom discussed component of natural wine.

In the cellar, they are equally minimal. Grapes are pressed using a screw-press; fermentation takes place in a combination of vessels including old oak and acacia; the wines ferment and age without temperature control and are bottled unfined and unfiltered. Where possible they avoid SO2 entirely, a practice which is becoming more frequent in recent vintages.

Their dedication to sustainability extends far beyond the vineyard itself. Over the last three years, they’ve constantly tweaked their practices to minimally impact the environment. Their bottles are labelled with a single FSC-Certified paper to reduce waste; they’ve moved to glue and plastic-free corks from small Portuguese producers, coated with beeswax instead of paraffin; they’ve done away with wasteful capsules and plan to seal their bottles with wax from their own hives; their shipping boxes are made from recycled cardboard and don’t require tape; they bottle all their wines in lightweight bottles to reduce CO2 emissions during transport.

They’ve had a rough couple of years (small harvests, lost loved ones, sickness), yet still, manage to remain positive. They inspire us to keep on working in the face of adversity, bettering ourselves as a form of catharsis. Their constant self-examination has helped their wines achieve cult status, yet they still believe there is room for exploration and finetuning. We’re proud to call them our friends.