Martina & Josef Ehmoser

Weingut Josef Ehmoser is a family-run estate in Tiefenthal, Grossweikersdorf, in the eastern part of Austria's Wagram region. The Ehmoser family has been working vineyards here for three generations, with Josef taking over the family winery in 1996 after completing his wine studies in Krems. His wife Martina is now an integral part of the estate, with the two of them working together to produce wines that are firmly rooted in the landscape around them. The family's vineyards sit along the prominent loess ridge of the Wagram, a geological formation that gives the region much of its identity. Rather than trying to imitate the better-known wine regions elsewhere in Austria, the Ehmosers have built their reputation around making wines that are recognisably from the Wagram.

Loess is the foundation of the estate. The Wagram's thick deposits of loess were formed during the Ice Age, when fine mineral-rich dust accumulated along the edges of the ancient Danube landscape. The soil is rich in limestone, fossils and minerals and, importantly for the vines, has an excellent capacity to retain water. The Ehmosers work two of their most important sites, Ried Hohenberg and Ried Georgenberg, on this distinctive loess terrain. The resulting wines tend to have a particular combination of generosity, structure and fine mineral character. Martina describes the estate's individual vineyards as giving the wines their unmistakable taste, and the family's approach is essentially to let those sites speak rather than masking them with heavy-handed winemaking.

The winery is certified organic, with sustainability and careful work in the vineyard forming the basis of its philosophy. The Ehmosers harvest everything by hand and aim to intervene as little as possible, while still stepping in when the vines need help. The same thinking continues in the cellar, where the grapes are handled carefully and the wines are given time to develop rather than being pushed into a particular style. It is a fairly simple philosophy, but one that requires a lot of attention: healthy vineyards, sensible yields, careful harvesting and restrained cellar work. The estate describes its aim as producing wines that grow in harmony with soil, climate and variety, and that comes through particularly clearly in the wines from their individual Erste Lage vineyards.

Grüner Veltliner is the main variety, and the Wagram's loess soils are particularly well suited to it. The Ehmosers make several expressions, ranging from the approachable Wagram Terrassen through to their single-vineyard Ried Hohenberg and Ried Georgenberg wines. The estate also has a particular affection for Weisser Burgunder (Pinot Blanc), as well as Riesling and a traditional field blend. Their Gemischter Satz is made by planting eight varieties together, reviving an old Austrian tradition in which different grapes grow side by side and are harvested and fermented together. Red varieties also have a place in the cellar, including Zweigelt and St Laurent. The result is a relatively tight portfolio, but one that shows how much variation the Wagram can offer when different varieties and sites are treated individually.

The Ehmosers are also members of the Österreichische Traditionsweingüter, an association dedicated to identifying and classifying Austria's historically important vineyard sites. Their Ried Georgenberg and Ried Hohenberg wines are recognised as ÖTW Erste Lage, putting them among the estate's most important expressions of Wagram terroir. Yet there is nothing particularly showy about the way the winery presents itself. Josef and Martina are known for a quiet, considered approach, concentrating on traditional varieties and making wines that are clear, linear and expressive rather than chasing fashions. Their wines are now sold in more than 20 countries, but the heart of the operation remains the same handful of vineyards around Grossweikersdorf. It is a very Austrian kind of wine estate: deeply traditional, environmentally conscious and quietly obsessive about getting the details right.