Wine family Malat.
Weingut Malat:
Europe’s best Riesling The Malat family wine estate looks back at almost 300 years of fine winemaking and ten generations of vintners. Weingut Malat received the prestigious award Best European Riesling 2016 for their Riesling Silberbichl 2010, a fitting testimony for centuries of quality winemaking.
“As a vintner you are a farmer, a geologist, an oenologist, the cellar master, a businessman, a manager and a salesperson all at once,” he explains enthusiastically.
TEXT: MARILENA STRACKE I PHOTOS: CHRISTIAN JUNGWIRTH, COPYRIGHT: WEINGUT MALAT
For him, it is a privilege to combine so many roles: “It is pretty cool to stand in front of a crowd of sommeliers in Tokyo who cannot wait to hear more about my wines. We taste them together and I explain every step of the winemaking process from planting the vine right up to the current tasting. And in every one of those steps it is possible to express your own philosophy. I find that very inspiring.”
The Malat wine estate sits in the valley of Kremstal in Lower Austria, just an hour outside of Vienna. The area features ideal conditions for viticulture due to the mild climate and the Danube flowing through, providing a cooling effect in summer and a warming effect in winter. The remarkably different soil properties such as loess, gravel and primary rock allow for a large diversity of varieties to grow extremely well here.
hand. Michael Malat is its current vintner and he has never had any doubts about following in his father’s footsteps.
The viticultural heritage is visible throughout this lush green region, but you will find it particularly apparent at the Malat wine estate. Founded in 1722, the winery has been family-run for ten generations and the whole family still works hand in
That it also requires a great deal of commitment and ambition to successfully compete in the international market goes without saying. Time to put his feet up is sparse for Malat as his vintner duties involve a variety of different tasks.
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“Of course, there is a certain kind of pressure when the line of succession spans over centuries,” says Malat. “But I always knew I wanted to take over. I think the determination and passion are essential in order to make premium wines.”
The grape varieties typical of the region are Riesling and Green Veltliner. They are also Malat’s main players in his 50-hectare vineyards in Kremstal and the Wachau valley. He explains that both varieties have fundamentally different needs, yet they equally thrive in the versatile terroir of the Danube area.