Winemonger.com

A surprise hailstorm hit this vineyard and all were sure there would be no St.Laurent Classic for 2008. But never say never- the old farmer who helps tend this vineyard alongside Hannes Schuster used his decades of experience and dedicated himself to meticulous nurturing of the vines, and this “natural selection” in fact led to higher-than-usual ripeness- resulting in complex display of minerality, fine pepper, cumin, and dark-skinned berry notes on the nose. A slightly lactic texture highlights this otherwise lighter styled wine, along with great acidity that is always the strength of cool-climate red. Delicious, ripe, un-wooded. A startlingly beautiful wine.

• 100 % - Saint Laurent (AKA Sankt Laurent, St. Laurent)

Their nine hectares of vines spread themselves out among the finest and most expressive vineyards in the communities of St Margarethen and Zagersdorf.

Ninety percent are planted to red, in which lies the basis for Schuster’s success—primarily Blaufränkisch and St Laurent, but also Zweigelt, Merlot and a little bit of Cabernet Sauvignon.
The white-wine varieties Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc have also found a home here.

Each variety is planted in the situation where the relevant parameters of microclimate, soil-type and growing season best provide for optimal material.

Distinctive and variable soils are found among the diverse vineyard sites of the estate: from heavy loam containing alternating compositions of clay and limestone, to sandy chalk-free loam, ranging to some very gravelly soils worked by Hannes Schuster and his mother Rosi.

Considering the Schuster estate, one becomes easily convinced that their expertise concerning the optimum locations coupled with an intuition for the right timing are the most important prerequisites for bringing the highest order of quality to the cellar.

The west side of the lake... The Austrian wine establishment has now begun to call this region Leithaberg, after the local hillsides themselves, although it is hard to imagine winegrowing in this region without the benificent influence of the lake. The free city of Rust has been famous for its sweet wines for centuries, now producing memorable reds and dry whites as well. The towns of St Margarethen, Donnerskirchen and Grosshöflein are all proving to be sources of excellent grapes from the varieties Blaufränkisch and St Laurent, as well as for the more surprising Sauvignon Blanc. The major municipality Eisenstadt is the capital of Burgenland; the area has been settled since the early Iron Age, and evidence of viticulture exists in Celtic hill burials from nearly three thousand years ago.