Travel

The mirror of Austrian winemaking
"Vinnaya Karta" №11(70) December 2005

Lenz Moser, the largest Austrian winemaking company, doesn’t consider itself a negociant.

But the comparison comes inevitably when you meet people and learn ideas of business. For uninitiated it is worth noting that ’negociant’ has long lost its negative meaning. Uncompromising quality, individual style, progressive vision and innovation are the new notions of the word.

Any Austrian winemaker knows about Professor Lenz Moser III or, at least, uses his invention. In 1920s he developed a training system for vines which eventually was named ’Lenz Moser high training system’. The innovation brought double benefit — both for vines and for the economic side of vine growing. A high stem (1.2 — 1.4 m) and larger area occupied by the branches allowed not only to provide better access of sunlight and ventilation in conditions of continental climate, but to mechanise certain operations in the vineyard, thus lowering cost of production. At present this system is used at 90% of Austrian vineyards and abroad.

This is probably the most striking example of innovation in 150 years of company history — but not the only one. Each one of Lenz Moser five generations brought elements of progress and development in Austrian winemaking which allowed the company to get its reputation of one of the most important in the country. Current owner, VOG corporation, became Lenz Moser partner in the critical times after infamous Austrian wine scandal of 1986 and then acquired full control in 1997 continuing to perfect winemaking technologies. In the last 15 years Lenz Moser has been experimenting with ecological vine growing. In the winemaking the main focus of research lies in preventing wine oxidation with less use of sulphur which is required to preserve wine in the bottle.

Perhaps, some will find these technical details boring, but they help to understand the phenomenon of Lenz Moser success. The company number one in Austria, it has long become a barometre that helps assess country’s winemaking.

Major share in a wide product spectrum goes to different ranges of quality wines typical for a given region. "Lenz Moser is wines of Austria", this is producer’s motto. Recently the positioning was various wines was reviewed, and they are now offered in a hierarchical order — from regional brands such as Storch and Vinothek to premium wines from two historic properties.

Lenz Moser doesn’t owns vineyards, thus making a parallel with Burgundy negociants. The company works with three thousand growers in all winemaking regions of the country and produces nearly 16.5 million bottles a year. Fractured nature of winegrowing farms is a typical feature of Austria, where a winegrower on average owns half a hectare of land. To keep such a huge amount of contracts, Lenz Moser has allocated special number of staff. Winegrowers are paid by quality, not quantity, and are aided by technicians and enologists from Lenz Moser. It is the grapes, not the wine, that is bought, thus the company has a full control of vinification side.

Cooperation with a large number of independent growers also allows to be flexible when distributing grapes for different wines. For Vinothek label the harvest comes from anywhere in the Lower Austria, but for Prestige the grapes are sourced only from the most reputable vineyards of the country. In early 1980s, when the concept of varietal wines was only being born in the New World countries, Lenz Moser offered the range that included best Austrian varieties: Gruner Veltliner, Welschriesling, Blauer Zweigelt, Blaufrankisch, Sankt-Laurent.

No vineyards in ownership is perhaps not exactly correct. Lenz Moser has a long-term lease for two historic properties — Klosterkeller Siegendorf and Malteser Ritterorden. Klosterkeller Siegendorf (translated as the monastery cellar of Siegendorf) at the north-western shore of Neusidlersee lake in Burgenland is known for its red wines. Malolactic fermentation, obligatory part of vinification, was first in Austria applied by Lenz Moser in 1987.

Malteser Ritterorden, the castle of the knights of the Malta Order, at the north of the Weinviertel winemaking region has an impressive vineyard with 48 hectares. White Gruner Veltliner flourishes here. With introduction of the first Austrian appellation of Weinviertel DAC, it became its formal variety. Two Gruner Veltliners are made in Malteser Ritterorden, one comes from a singe vineyard Hundschupf. Red varieties enjoy a special position. Zweigelt, acknowledged as one of the leading red varieties of modern Austria, got into production of the estate 30 years ago. Barrel vinification was introduced, and a new era of Austrian red wine production was started. Experimentation with international varieties also brought success. In 1982, after a long fight with regulating authorities, Lenz Moser IV got the permission to plant first Cabernet Sauvignon in Lower Austria. Now the premium Malteser Ritterorden Kommende Mailberg wine (Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot blend) has a reputation of one of the best in the country.

Lenz Moser’s history is going forward. Ernest Grossauer, chief winemaker with 28 years of experience, is set to further improve Lenz Moser wines in a new winery with futuristic equipment. It has just been built at the company headquarter in Krems. Soon a live museum of the Austrian autochthonous varieties will be opened, and the winemaker plans to continue his experiments with local and international varieties. The progress of the Austrian winemaking is in safe hands.