Vienna, 28 February 2023

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Four new members for respekt-BIODYN

Even more biodynamic viticulture
The European winegrowers' group respekt-BIODYN is gaining in size. With the beginning of this year, a total of four renowned Austrian and German vintners joined the association of now 36 wineries. These are Ebner-Ebenauer and Schödl in the Weinviertel, Diwald in the Wagram and Schnaitmann in Württemberg.
Vienna, 28 February 2023

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36 wineries in Austria, Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Slovenia have been associated with respekt-BIODYN, the biodynamic association founded in 2007, since the beginning of the year. With the new members Ebner-Ebenauer, Diwald, Schnaitmann and Schödl, the vineyard area has grown to almost 1,150 hectares. "Growth is not our goal. When we invite winemakers to join us, it is because they are wonderful people with impressive wines. Then we are happy to grow. We are very delighted about the new members who enrich us," says respekt chairman Michael Goëss-Enzenberg from the Manincor winery. The first respekt-certified wine of the newly admitted wineries will be the 2024 vintage. Until then, they will operate as "respekt member in conversion".

Marion and Manfred Ebner-Ebenauer have been farming the 17-hectare winery in Poysdorf together since 2007 and organically since 2016. In 2022, Falstaff named them the first "Winemaker Couple of the Year". Martin and Ulli Diwald continue the pioneering spirit of the family, who converted the now 24-hectare winery to organic farming as early as 1976. Rainer Schnaitmann first studied architecture, but then decided to take over his parents' 25-hectare estate on the high slopes in Württemberg. Since 2006, it has been a member of the renowned "VDP. Die Prädikatsweingüter" and has been certified organic since 2013. In 2016, the Schödl siblings jointly took over their parents' vineyard in Loidesthal in the Weinviertel region, which now covers an area of 14 hectares, and consistently converted first to organic and then to biodynamic farming methods. They want to rethink working methods in agriculture.

With the new members, the association founded in 2007 counts twenty-one wineries in Austria, eleven in Germany, two in Italy and one each in Hungary and Slovenia; the total vineyard area of the thirty-six wineries amounts to 1,133 hectares. The goal of the group is the common search for even more quality and individuality in wine; numerous international awards of the individual wineries confirm this path. In 2019, respekt-BIODYN was awarded the prestigious "Wine Award for Friends" by the German Feinschmecker magazine for the high quality of its wines and its enlightened European attitude.

Weingut Ebner-Ebenauer. "It is the holistic pursuit of health, balance & quality! By this we mean not only our wines and nature, but also our employees, ourselves as a family and our partners." Marion and Manfred Ebner-Ebenauer are at home in the most north-eastern tip of the Weinviertel, in Poysdorf. In 2007 they took over Manfred's parental farm with its scattered - and very chalky - vineyards. Herbicides on the now 17-hectare vineyard had never been applied by the previous generation either; the soil and its health have always been a priority. Their focus is on seven different Grüner Veltliners, Burgundy varieties and Riesling, all from single vineyards, as well as rare vintage sparkling wines. The winemaking couple has been certified organic since 2019. ebner-ebenauer.at

Weingut Diwald. "Head or chemistry!? You have to choose one." The estate on the Wagram, which today covers 24 hectares, has been cultivated organically since 1976; Martin Diwald's parents are considered pioneers of this viticultural method in Austria. For him, biodynamics is the logical continuation. Everything is rooted in the "collaboration" of man and nature. Only if you, as a farmer, can ensure that the vine in the vineyard, the earthworm in the soil, the animals in the house and the people who live and work there are all well, will farming be possible for generations to come. The winemaking couple Martin and Ulli Diwald vinify independent Grüner Veltliners and Rieslings shaped by their origins from chalky loess soils around the Goldberg and Eisenhut vineyards. It loves and lives an honest craft, without a lot of frills. diwald.at

Weingut Schnaitmann. "Keeping the senses awake so that you can produce sensibly." Rainer Schnaitmann decided late in life to give up studying architecture in favour of viticulture. Since 1997, he has been cultivating his family's vineyards in Fellbach in the German wine-growing region of Württemberg, which are situated at altitudes of up to 450 metres. In 2006, he became the then youngest member of the "VDP: Die Prädikatsweingüter". His vineyards, which cover a total of 25 hectares on the edge of the Stuttgart basin and in the Rems valley, consist of so-called "Keuper soils" - Württemberg's term for the local calcareous marl and the sandstone weathered soils - and have large differences in altitude in the counter-shadow of the Black Forest. Rainer Schnaitmann's preferred varieties are Pinot Noir, Riesling and Lemberger. The winery has been certified organic since 2013. weingut-schnaitmann.de

Weingut Schödl. "It is important for us as the next generation to take responsibility for climate change and to rethink the way we work in agriculture. Nature is our most important asset. One contribution to this is biodynamics." The siblings Mathias, Viktoria, and Leonhard Schödl want to show the full potential of this small part of the wine world in their home village of Loidesthal, about 50 kilometres north of Vienna. Their declared premise is regenerative management. In order to create such a place, the siblings took over their parents' part-time farm and converted the now 14-hectare winery step by step from 2016 onwards, first to organic and then to biodynamic cultivation. They work with autochthonous grape varieties such as Grüner Veltliner and Sankt Laurent as well as rare varieties such as Roter Muskateller and Scheurebe. The methods in the wine cellar are minimalist. schoedlfamily.at

The respekt estates. Paul Achs, Judith Beck, Busch, Christmann, Christmann & Kauffmann, Ebner-Ebenauer, Diwald, Feiler-Artinger, Foradori, Fritsch, Georg Fußer, Martin Fußer, Andreas Gsellmann, Gernot & Heike Heinrich, Hirsch, Sven Leiner, Loimer, Anita & Hans Nittnaus, Manincor, Ott, Gerhard & Brigitte Pittnauer, Claus Preisinger, Ökonomierat Dr. Rebholz, Sattlerhof, Schnaitmann, Schödl, Weingut am Stein, Tement & Domaine Ciringa, Dr. Wehrheim, Weninger & Weninger Pincészet, Wieninger & Hajszan Neumann, Wittmann, Herbert Zillinger.

respekt-BIODYN. The association is based in Austria and consists of 36 wineries in Germany, Italy, Austria, Hungary and Slovenia since 2023. It was founded in 2007 with the aim of striving together for even more quality and individuality in wine. Michael Goëss-Enzenberg from the South Tyrolean winery Manincor is the chairman of the association, deputy of the Kamptal winemaker Fred Loimer. In recent years respekt-BIODYN has established itself internationally as an important and driving force in biodynamic viticulture, alongside Demeter and Biodyvin. In total, respekt members cultivate an area of 1,133 hectares.


respekt-BIODYN
Headquarters: Weingut Wieninger
Stammersdorfer Strasse 31, 1210 Vienna, Austria
Email: info@respekt-biodyn.bio
respekt-biodyn.bio


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