MARKUS ALTENBURGER

Markus Altenburger comes from a family of farmers. He decided to continue working on the family land and become a winemaker mainly because of his love for the local variety—Blaufränkisch. He started out with one hectare of vineyards, gradually expanding it, and his wife Bernadette joined him along the way. Today, they grow 17 hectares on the eastern side of the Leithaberg DAC appeal on the northernmost part of Lake Neusiedl. Their vineyards are divided into 30 smaller locations, which is a challenge for everyday work, but it is also an advantage in the case of local frosts and hailstorms. Markus likes to say that he has an unfashionable approach to viticulture and bases his practices on the philosophy of two great thinkers, Masanobu Fukuoka, known for the book The One-Straw Revolution, and Rudolf Steiner, the pioneer of biodynamics. While Fukuoka advocates minimal intervention in natural processes, Steiner focuses on increasing vitality and health inside the plant. He derives the best aspects from both concepts, and the result is extremely mineral, salty, and fresh wines. This is also due to the unique terroir—the influence of Lake Neusiedl and the nearby Leitha Mountains, as well as the interaction of limestone and slate, which gives the wines a special character. The best positions of the vineyard are bottled as individual wines.