German
Manfred Tement is already considered a legend in the Austrian wine scene during his lifetime. His Sauvignon Blanc Zieregg is one of the hundred cult wines of the world. His two sons, Armin and Stefan, have now taken over the winery and are continuing their father's ideas. In addition to the fresh Styrian classics, which are mainly aged in steel tanks, the two juniors are particularly fond of the local and single-vineyard wines aged in large wooden barrels or barriques. This includes the Slovenian part of the Zieregg vineyard, which is vinified as the value-for-money insider tip Domaine Ciringa Fosilni Breg and now also as a more powerful Reserve.
Zieregg 13
8461 Berghausen, Österreich
Telefon +43 3453 4101
Winery Size 80 ha
Member of STK
The sons have rediscovered an old virtue in winemaking: the wines, especially the local wines and those from large vineyards, are once again being given more time to mature. Slow spontaneous fermentation is followed by long aging in large wooden barrels with intensive yeast contact, and no sulfur is added until shortly before bottling. As a result, the wines have slightly less fruit, but reward the winemaker with a more intense structure and greater complexity. As a further building block for sustainable management and quality improvement, the Tement family is also committed to organic cultivation of the vineyards in the future. We very much welcome the Tements' approach, as the quality and individuality of their wines have improved noticeably in recent years.
The impressive Tements cellar building in southern Styria is located above the Zieregg vineyard and offers a magnificent view over this shell limestone-dominated top location, which stretches from Austria to Slovenia, where it is called Ciringa. The Tements have now planted 20 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc on the Slovenian side and currently produce only one fantastic white wine called Fosilni Breg from the young vineyards. In the future, there will also be a top-quality Sauvignon from the older vines, but until then, the best grapes will continue to go into Fosilni Breg. The wine is pressed and fermented in Slovenia before being brought to the Austrian winery for storage and bottling.