Location: Sausal, South Styria
Hectares: 7 (5 owned by the Schnabels, 2 are purchased fruit from the southernmost part of South Styria)
Farming: biodynamic, Demeter certified since 2007
Winemaking: zero sulfur, wild yeasts, lots of skin contact, focus on red wines, long aging

Karl and Eva Schnabel farm 3 vineyards on the Sausal mountains at an extremely impressive and unbelievable 1700 ft of elevation, and they additionally buy 2ha of biodynamic Sauvignon Blanc from the southernmost part of South Styria. Karl’s ancestors were all farmers, including his parents who sadly died when he was 17. His older sister inherited their land but had no interest in farming and let it go fallow. Karl and Eva decided to come back to the Sausal in the late 90s (they had studied and lived in Vienna at the time) to start farming and have since created an oasis of zero-input biodiversity. Their vines have never seen sprays or chemical inputs, so this is truly OG organic farming. Karl says he didn’t learn to farm this way, he was just born into it. They were one of the first Demeter-certified wineries in Austria, but Karl, ever the anarchist, feels that the certification doesn’t matter. “It all comes down to what you’re actually doing to change bad farming” he says. He is one of the most ardent natural winegrowers in Styria and is known for being outspoken and deeply passionate about the state of the natural environment. It took the Schnabels over 10 years of winegrowing before anyone would pay attention to what they were doing because no one was interested in biodynamic wine. To say their journey has been an uphill battle is an understatement.

The Schnabels have a deep love of Burgundy which really pushed them to work with red varieties in South Styria, something that is completely uncommon these days. While Blaufrüankish is historically a Styrian variety, Sauvignon Blanc became industrialized in the 70s and quickly took over most vineyards. The Schnabels were steadfast in their desire to work with red grapes at this insanely high altitude and it paid off. Among many wine folks in Styria, they’re known as “the winegrowers who make red wine”.

Everything is done by hand, including clearing grasses under the vines by scythe. Nettle and horsetail teas are employed in the vineyards, and Karl raises 6 Alpine cows that are a protected Austrian breed of Celtic origin. Maya is their beloved cow pictured on most of the labels. Soils in their Sausal vineyards are rich in silica quartz and limestone with small swaths of iron.

Winemaking is equally as hands off and they stopped using sulfur in 2007. Their cellars are below their home (also the home where Karl’s grandparents and parents lived), filled with older, neutral barrels and no electricity. Karl does cellar work via headlamp and electrical lights powered by extension cord run from the house. Wines are long-aged, often for 2-3 years before release and Karl employs a mix of direct press and skin-contact work for their white wines.