Fritz Wieninger
Innovative Traditionalist
Stammersdorf, Vienna

"Viennese wine" and "Wieninger" are practically synonymous. In fact, much of the prestige of Vienna’s wines can be attributed to the Wieninger winery. Nearly 100 years old, this winery was first run exclusively as a "Heurigen" (vineyard tavern) until Fritz took over the family business in 1987. He concentrates solely on distinctive, high-quality products. The fruit for these unique wines is sourced from the Bisamberg (sand, loam, loess) and Vienna’s most famous vineyard site, the Nussberg (weathered limestone).

"It's not just the grapes that give these flavours but the place they are grown, the characteristics of the vintage, the miraculous process of fermentation and the hand of the winemaker", Fritz says. He graduated in 1985 from the Federal College for Viticulture and Pomology based in Klosterneuburg and worked a vintage in St Helena, Napa Valley, before his takeover at home.Since 2008 he is farming according to biodynamic guidelines in order to encourage biodiversity and the microbiological life of the soil, increasing the health, self-healing power and the quality of vines and wine.