From all of our vineyards there´s a fine view down over lake neusiedl and away over the Pannonian Plain. Sloping up from the western shore of the lake, the vineyards open up into a sort of amphitheatre, facing due south and largely protected from adverse weather by several ranges of hills. The vines are significantly influenced by the typically moderate rainfall of around 500 mm a year, and also by the proximity of the lake, a giant body of water that acts both as a climate regulator and as a mirror, concentrating the first morning light onto the vines along the western shore as they awaken, rested. but if the vineyard sites share these influences, there are also enormous geological differences between them - as you will see below in the seperate site descriptions.
Vogelsang
Vogelsang means Birdsong. This big vineyard lies in the far south-western corner of Rust. The section where we grow our Sauvignon Blanc Vogelsang is a very particular site lying on the southern slope of valley. Centuries of flood waters flowing down from the Ruster Berg and Sankt Margarethner Wald (a nearby hill and wood) have eroded this cleft in the landscape as they gushed their way towards the lake. This is also the route that the cold air takes, and the consequent big variations in temperature between day and night bring complexity and character to the wines. There are lots of trees, hedges and brushwood - hence the birds after which the vineyard named. We have a dry climate, and the only way we can mitigate this is by influencing the surface structure of our vineyards. We use groundcover a great diversity of plants - to shade the ground, thus lowering its temperature and reducing the rate at which it dries out. The soil takes in more rain, and humus builds up. The vines are planted on quartz, gneiss and fractured schist with a high proportion of clay, and they do the rest of the work themselves. Over the years they plunge their roots ever deeper into the water reserves.
Mariental
poor limestone soil, a very particular microclimate and very old vines prepare the way for an intense, expressive Blaufränkisch. If we work wisely and judiciously with this amazing raw material, we can make very individual, long-lived wines of great character. These vines remind us of ourselves - we Triebaumers also prefer to dig deep rather than polishing the surface. It all started in 1976, when Josef and Karoline Lentsch sold their plot in the Mariental vineyard to Margarethe Triebaumer. Herr and Frau Lentsch were worried that they were not equipped to restore the vineyard and make the finest possible wines and critical acclaim. If we didn't already know what a diamond in the rough this site represented, we certainly knwe it by 1988, when the Blaufränkisch Mariental 86 from a producer who at the time was completely insignificant and unknown won almost every competition it was put in for. A red wine wonder, and not the first in this vineyard.
Gemärk
down by the lake behind the wood, tucked away on chalky clay soil, our local hero Blaufränkisch shows his muscles above all in hot, dry years. Even in those years, Blaufränkisch Gemärk has bright sour-cherry fruit, precise herbal notes and lively acidity. our methods of cultivation and (not) working the soil always present a challenge. of course here as well we need to pick by hand with the greatest of care, always gentle with both grapes and juice, and relying on native yeasts to start the fermentatin. Since we started keeping the production in 300 and 500 litre used barrels right up until autumm, we no longer need to filter the Blaufränkisch Gemärk.
Greiner
we own part of this beautiful, historic vineyard, which lies on the first slope by the lake. Much of the rest has fallen victim to the worldwize craze for concrete. Many hectares that only a litte while ago grew the famous Ruster Ausbruch are today buried under houses, roads, pools and an unspeakable rehabilitation clinic. We 've saved our sections - it was delved down over many years through crystalline sands and clay, past quartz, shards of schist and gneiss, deeper and deeper into the rock, where they can find water even in the hot, dry Pannonian summer - because they have to get by without irrigation. There is just one little patch where they cannot manage to do this because their roots are blocked by an impenetrable layer of sandstone, and every year this patch of vines reminds us how precious the soils are in our other vineyards. The minerals they pick up along the way give the wines their complexity and individuality. The juice is relatively clear from the outset, thanks to the selective hand picking and gentle handling of grapes, must and juice. The wines ferment with their natural yeasts. After fermentatin, nature continues to take it course. The wines clarify slowly by sedimentation and the drop in cellar temperature in winter.
Bandkräftn
this is one of the few sites in Rust that could also be used for growing other crops. The vines here really have everything they need, and all varieties ripen well with good balance in the deep, moderately chalky loess. We have to be sure here to intervene to reduxe vigour if we are to avoid vegetal aromas, in the wines . It is also dramatically important to thin the crop and pick at just the right time. It's a fact, however, that with age, vines of whatever type settle down in terms of vigour and yield. We'are seriously getting there now with our 50-ish-year-old Chardonnay vineyard.
Oberer Wald
we inherited this vineyard and are extremely proud of it. It has many admires amongst our customer too. Oberer Wald means 'Upper Woods'. The roots of the 70-year -old Blaufränkissch work their way down between the corals and seaweed deposits of a former tropical palm beach, past fossilised scallop and oyster shells and down to the waterretentive marl. We allow them the decandes they need to do this, and they repay us with flavourful, concentrated grapes. The main difference between Mariental and Oberer Wald is a higher clay content here, and the planting orientation from north to south, so that the vines catch the sun  in a completly different way. That's wyh the wine always tastes leaner and cooler than the wine from Mariental. This vineyard has been in our family since way back into the mists of time. It's real treasure.