Our artisanry
Our wines are the result of elaborate manual work, from the harvest to bottling!
Harvest
The grapes for our wines come from organically cultivated vineyards in the Thermenregion of Lower Austria.
The grapes are harvested by hand at a perfect level of ripeness and immediately taken to our winery near Innsbruck for crushing and processing.
Vinification
The crushed and de-stemmed grapes ferment in small vats with a capacity of 150 to 350 liters. The temperature usually stays below 25 degrees for a smooth extraction of color, aromas and tannins. The cap which forms during fermentation is punched down by hand several times a day to keep the skins in contact with the juice. Fermentation usually lasts about two weeks.
Pressing
Shortly before the end of fermentation, the grapes are taken to the press. The free run wine and the press wine are kept separate until blending, because the press wine contains harder tannins.
At this point in time, the malolactic fermentation usually begins. Malic acid is converted into the milder lactic acid by lactic acid bacteria.
Maturation
We prefer that our wines pick up as few aromatic substances from the wood as possible. Therefore, our wines are aged in barrels that have been used for two vintages. We also partly use stainless steel tanks.
We believe that the best and gentlest tool in the cellar is gravity. It ensures that the wine becomes naturally clear without fining or filtration. Racking and filling are is also only done with the help of gravity. We therefore do not use pumps.
During the maturation phase, the wine is carefully accompanied. The barrels are filled weekly with the same wine to keep them full and thus avoid oxidation.
Bottling
After about a year of barrel aging, the wine is bottled without fining or filtration. Each bottle is sealed with a so-called 'OneByOne' cork. These high-quality corks are individually checked in order to practically rule out cork failure.
The wine
We don't want to make 'perfect' wines. We always work carefully and cautiously to offer authentic wines with character and depth that focus on the terroir.
The wines unfold their aroma and elegance best slightly chilled at around 15°C.
By the way - Gratus is Latin means graceful.
