Ambrositsch
- Vienna, Austria
Jutta, a soft-spoken outsider, makes an unlikely champion of these (Viennese) traditions. Yet, in the 15 years since she started tending to vines here, she has joined the ranks of Vienna’s most established wine families—Wieninger, Zahel, Christ—thanks mostly to humility and hard work."
—Valerie Kathawala, Pellicle
Jutta Ambrositsch is one of the top winemakers in Vienna in a burgeoning Viennese wine scene. Vienna is the only urban area with a substantial amount of vines planted within city limits. Thankfully the government protected this land years ago from being converted to high-rises for the growing city. Today, there are fifty growers managing 650 total hectares; of those fifty, only twenty are full-time winemakers, earning their living from the wine they make. The vineyards are on hillsides at the city limits, on either side of the Danube overlooking the city center.
Today, Ambrositsch farms a total of four hectares —three on the right side of the Danube and one hectare on the left bank— in ten different parcels. Each vineyard is unique, with a distinctive terroir and microclimate. She farms each organically but does not have certification. Ambrositsch says that the biggest threat to the vineyards is hail and wild boars that live in the surrounding forests and using conventional products will not help against either!
The specialty of Vienna is a traditional wine called Gemischter Satz. Historically, it was a field blend with many different varieties picked the same day and crushed together for vinification. It sounds simple enough, but the different varieties ripen at different rates and it’s quite a skill to decide the exact day when the ripeness and acidity will be a delicious balance amongst all the varieties. While Jutta and Marco care very much about making traditional Viennese wine, they recently decided that they would not be a part of the Vienna DAC. Ambrositsch feels that some DAC-regulations undermine what makes true Gemischter Satz unique: many different co-planted varieties, if possible the majority should consist of old, traditional varieties, picked together and pressed together.
The Ambrositsch wines are all micro-cuvées and they are a delightful way to discover the historic Vienna terroir through the lens of a talented artist who is very connected to her farming. Most of the wines are made in stainless steel and are classic, with a very special energy to them.
The real highlight in the line up are the single-vineyard wines: Gemischter Satz “Ringelspiel”, Gemischter Satz “Furchtegott”, and Riesling “Utopie”. In Marco’s words, the single-vineyard wines, “are the reason we get out of bed in the morning.” They are super limited and they make less than 100 cases of each per year. In addition to the traditional wines, they make some playful cuvées, like the Roter (red) Gemischter Satz called “Rakete”, with its piquant cherry fruit and cloudy bright ruby color. The “Ein Liter Wien” is no ordinary liter bottle. First of all, notice the play on words, “A liter of Vienna”; it’s a second pressing of ALL of the white wines that they make. It contains all of their oldest vines from the 50’s that go into the single vineyards up to their youngest vines that go into the Gemischter Satz “Satellit”. Because their wines are made without additions, they have a lot of vibrancy and juicy flavors, and an unrestrained expression of Vienna's terroir.