Lagler Gruner Neuburger

The Man... Karl Lagler’s family have lived at Rote Torgasse since 1789. They always grew grapes, but 30 years ago Karl Sr. became the first Lagler to make commercial amounts of quality wine. Today his son carries this commitment into the 21st century, making 70,000 bottles of wine from his family’s land annually. If you want to see Lagler winemaking zeal in action, the family runs a small hotel near their 180-year-old wine cellar. Vacation, anyone?

The Reputation... Wachau wine is amazing. Truly top-drawer stuff, or at least it can be. Austrian wine importer Terry Theise describes “...the magnificently unreasonable Wachau. Why magnificent? The region is stupendously beautiful and the best wines are pinnacles of Austrian wines. Why unreasonable? Because there’s too much business chasing too little truly great wine.” Less than 1,500 hectares to provide for legions of tourists, importers, locals. So prices can be high. In many ways the Wachau is to Austria as the Rheingau is to Germany. The potential is staggering. Grown in the right field, farmed by the right hands, the wines can blow your mind. Dangerous stuff. Addiction to Smaragd will cost you.

The Farming... Lagler has 13 hectares of top sites planted with very old vines along the northern bank of the Danube. The soils of these steeply terraced hillside vineyards are a rocky mix of gneiss, marble and granite perfect for heat retention and drainage. Natural, sustainable farming methods are employed to help coax exceptional quality grapes from these vines. As one example, the estate uses no machinery in their vineyards. All the work here is done by hand. These wines are tremendous examples of the quality possible in the western Wachau. Because of this they are consumed in large amounts by residents and restaurant-goers native to the region.