Fourth-generation winemaker Alex Zahel was instrumental in creating an international audience for Vienna’s locally produced ‘house wine,’ Gemischter Satz.
“Wiener Gemischter Satz” is now an officially recognized wine style and well as a DAC-designated geographic appellation, applied to hillside vineyards that encircle the city of Vienna. Overall, there are eight different vineyard districts of diverse geology, although most of the 700 hectares of vines are rooted in some form of mostly sedimentary rock, such as flysch, sandstone, and marl.
By law, Gemischter Satz blends must contain at least three varieties and may contain up to 20; this wine from Zahel, from Demeter-certified biodynamic vineyards, includes Gruner Veltliner, Riesling, Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris), Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), Chardonnay and Traminer that is harvested in one day and co-fermented/aged in stainless steel. The vineyard sources for the wine are perched on a famous
hill in Vienna called “Nussberg,” at an elevation of about 300 meters. The soils are composed of sandstone over limestone bedrock.
The Zahels got their start in viticulture way back in 1724, producing wine from half of one hectare for their four-table heuriger. It stayed this way for generations, until 1989, when Richard Zahel took over. Today, he and his nephew, Alex, run this small family enterprise, which has grown to 10 hectares— along with a few more tables in their tavern. Upon Alexander’s arrival in 2005, he began a concentrated push toward Demeter’s biodynamic certification, which was officially achieved in 2018.
The wine displays a light golden-yellow core with bright green highlights, with fresh and lifted aromas of yellow apple, peach, white pepper, lemon blossom, apricot, honeysuckle, saffron, and a bouquet of white flowers. It is medium-bodied, with a faint hint of oiliness countered by refreshing acidity. The ideal setting for drinking this bottle would be at a picnic table in a Viennese vineyard, but in the absence of that, fry up a classic wiener schnitzel with a lemony side salad and let it rip.
