Markus Altenburger, Juna Chardonnay 2020

All their vineyards have been certified organic since 2017 and situated in the village of Jois. It’s the most eastern commune of the Leithaberg DAC appellation at the northernmost point of Lake Neusiedl. Due to the influence of the lake and the nearby hills of Leithagebirge and the interaction of limestone and slate soils their vineyards are really special – in a positive sense. The most interesting plots are bottled as single vineyard wines.

Here is the short version. Some million years ago, the area around Jois looked like the Caribbean looks today. The primary rock of the Leithagebirge protruded in some places as small islands above the primordial ocean. All kind of seaweed, corals and other sea animals inhabited the mountain under water. As the sea slowly disappeared the living forms fossilzed into limestone – the “Leithakalk”. Today this limestone gives our wines their minerality and saltiness. So above a certain sea level, the hilly range shows its primary rock – we call it slate – the slopes below show limestone and the foothills consist of chalky loamy.

In 2006, Markus took over the family winery in the Leithaberg in Burgenland.

The regional limestone Leithakalk soil produces high acid, mineral wines. The lack of nutrients in the soil force the vines to bury deeper into the ground, giving the wines their signature minerality.

Markus’ winemaking is very natural and solely focuses on grape varieties that best express this unique terroir – Blaufrankisch and Chardonnay, producing authentic, honest, structured and long living wines.