Herbert Zillinger

In 1998, at just 20 years old, Herbert Zillinger took over seven hectares in Ebenthal. Carmen joined him in 2005, and together they have since expanded the holdings to 16 hectares in the southern Weinviertel – about 70 km northeast of Vienna. The heart of their work is divided between two villages with opposite terroirs: cool Ebenthal, planted on brown earth and loess, and more southerly Ollersdorf, marked by a Pannonian climate on limestone, loess and sandy loam. The winery, certified organic in 2015, has worked biodynamically since 2016 and has been a member of respekt-BIODYN since that same year.

The farming philosophy is one of total non-intervention: no spraying, no fertilizing and no irrigation (in the belief that irrigation encourages shallow roots rather than roots that reach deep into the soil). The radical line continues in the cellar: fermentation with wild yeasts, short skin contact alongside long aging on the lees, racking by gravity without pumps, and no additives. Sulfur is added in a minimal dose, for stabilization only (about 10 mg/L), and since 2020 all the wines have been bottled unfiltered. Zillinger's ideal is a wine that is "light and intense at the same time." In the 2023/2024 tasting season, wein.plus awarded the winery's wines the title Collection of the Year – the only one from Austria among more than 7,000 wines assessed.