Südburgenland is Austria’s smallest and poorest wine producing region. Straddling the borders with Hungary, there are approximately 460 hectares under vine, split among 2,400 vignerons who usually grow their vines as a hobby. The finest is the 120 hectares Eisenberg, a steep schistus slate hillside where Uwe Schiefer (by coincidence the word Schiefer means slate in German) works on only 5 hectares with the simple philosophy that “less is more”. The rich terroir couples with Uwe’s traditional winemaking styles produces stunning Blaufränkisch, a varietal he feels can successfully display the surroundings.

His vineyards are kept away from technology and close to nature, adopting biodynamic viticultural methods and enabling plants and herbs to grow as cover crops, ensuring that everything happens at the right time with the right balance. All the wines are made in an old-fashioned way with spontaneous fermentation, and matured in different casks on the yeast. This comes from this aim to produce the purest and most natural wine possible. Schiefer’s wines are very pure and simple, but very unique, as René Gabriel claims “Uwe Schiefer’s Blaufränkisch wines are unique and are of world-class arrogance. Deep truffle wines that remind one of a mixture of Bruno Giacosa’s Barbaresco and Château Rayas”.