Weingut Claus Preisinger

The Free Bacchus Story

Claus Preisinger made his first wine under his own name in 2000, in Gols on the north shore of the Neusiedlersee, and in 2004 he became the youngest member of Pannobile, the town’s group of quality growers. He was also among the thirteen growers who met from 2005 to talk about biodynamic farming and founded respekt-BIODYN in 2007. He converted his vineyards and winery to biodynamics in 2006. One importer calls him a surfer at heart.

Burgenland is Austria’s red-wine country. Preisinger works mostly with its own grapes, Blaufränkisch, Zweigelt and St. Laurent, with some Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc, from parcels spread over Gols, Weiden and Mönchhof. Blaufränkisch sits somewhere near Syrah for pepper and near Pinot Noir for weight, with acidity that keeps it upright.

In the cellar he uses no cultivated yeast and little or no sulphur, and ages many of the wines in amphorae rather than barrels, which he treats as a step back to the grape and the soil. respekt-BIODYN lists him among its current members. The EU organic register lists his vineyards and his winery company separately, under the Austrian control body LACON.