Winery

Tauss

The Tauss winery is a hidden gem in southern Styria. Part of the community of values with Werlitsch, Muster, Tscheppe and Strohmeier, Roland and Alice Tauss are perhaps less conspicuous, but their natural wines are fascinatingly great!

"We see our craft as winegrowers in the perception of nature and the respectful treatment of the mineral, plant, animal and water world."

– Roland Tauss

Colour

Type

Wine Style

Price

Aromatic

Grape

Character

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Welschriesling vom Opok 2020

Fresh & Juicy

Vegetative

Mineral

Smooth, Fine-meshed

16,50 €

22,00 €/L

Tauss is one of Austria's natural wine pioneers

In conversation with Roland Tauss, it quickly becomes clear: this is not about any trends. For him, the topic of natural wine is only the logical consequence of a lifestyle in harmony with nature.

Together with the winemaker friends Werlitsch (Brigitte and Ewald Tscheppe), Maria and Sepp Muster, Elisabeth and Andreas Tscheppe as well as Christine and Franz Strohmeier, the natural wine pioneers from Austria founded the value community "Taste Life". The 5 winemakers realised that they could not only learn a lot from each other on their new paths in the group, but also appear stronger to the outside world.

While they were still smiled at by "conventional wine drinkers:inside" in the early years, today they are internationally considered to be among the absolute top winemakers of the natural wine scene.

The Tauss vineyard has been Demeter certified since 2005.

On only 8 hectares, the Tauss winery cultivates its vineyards biodynamically and has been Demeter certified since 2005. When Roland Tauss took over his parents' winery, he initially continued the business with conventional wines. But at some point it no longer felt right, and when he got to know biodynamics and like-minded friends - including the "Schmecke das Leben" winemakers - the big turning point came.

The Tauss winery stands for low-tech, which means careful manual work with a lot of patience and love; there are no machines or fancy cellar technologies. The wines are fermented and matured in used as well as new barrique barrels of excellent wood quality, which ensure an extremely fine texture. Hohenegg's site wines are sometimes matured for years before they are released to the market, in order to fully reveal the complexity of the soil aromas and grape varieties and to bring every bit of DNA of this unique place into the bottle. Their wines are inspiring and challenging at the same time, they exude a dynamism of their own and delight the soul :)

The "Opok" with southern exposure produces special wines

The wines of Alice and Roland Tauss grow on the "Opok", which colloquially comes from "packed together", it is created purely by pressure and without the influence of heat.

The Opok soil is a chalky, loamy sandy soil and thus an excellent prerequisite for particularly tight, mineral wines. Alice and Roland cultivate six white and three red grape varieties, with a focus on Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Blaufränkisch. It is remarkable that the oldest parcel is planted with Red Traminer and has a vine age of 60 years. The Rote Traminer -H-which comes from the plot Hohenegg is one of the most unique and inspiring orange wines we encountered, a one-of-a-kind natural wine.

Interview with Roland Tauss

In our conversation, Roland once again proved his straightforwardness, recognisable by the fact that his answers were shorter than our questions. Perhaps this is also the reason why his natural wines are so on point.

What would you say your winery and your wines stand for?

Roland Tauss: For harmonious, lively wines that have everything nature intended for them./p>

What makes a great wine for you? Or what is important to you personally in a wine?

Roland Tauss: Liveliness, wholesomeness, durability.

Does climate change have an influence on your viticulture and does this also change things in your work?

Roland Tauss: Everything is always changing and is a dynamic process.

What made you go in the direction of organic/biodynamic/natural wine?

Roland Tauss: The change in my consciousness

Are there any learnings or insights regarding winemaking or the wine business that you wish you had had at the beginning of your career?

Roland Tauss: No, everything comes in its own time.

Dear Roland, thank you very much for the interview!