Location: Eichberg, South Styria
Hectares: 5
Farming: Certified organic with biodynamic practices
Winemaking: Combination of barrel and stainless, wild yeasts, some wines with skin contact, low to no sulfur

Weingut Daniel Jaunegg was founded in 1975 by Daniel’s parents who were conventional farmers with a small home and buscheschank. At the time, they were producing small amounts of inexpensive wines for the buschenschank, and it wasn’t until Daniel took over in 2001 that single vineyard and quality wines entered the Jaunegg conversation. Jasmin didn’t grow up in a winegrowing family, but had a keen interest in wine starting in her 20s and after meeting Daniel in Vienna and eventually settling down together, she officially joined the winery in 2016. It was during this time that they began exploring organics and spent time traveling and learning from other winegrowers in Europe. Since then, they’ve lowered sulfur levels (now added only at bottling) and they’re currently in the process of converting to biodynamics. Aside from some green work and harvest, Daniel and Jasmin do everything themselves, and this is by design. They prefer to be as hands-on as possible, so they’ve made a conscious decision to keep their vineyard holdings small.

Eichberg is a secluded micro-region located in the western part of South Styria, and the Jaunegg’s vineyards line a gorgeous amphitheater-shaped hillside at an altitude that ranges from 1700-1900 ft. Surrounded by forests, their vines are in a particularly auspicious location because they’re protected from wind and extreme frosts. There’s no monoculture here like there is in other parts of South Styria. The roads are incredibly gorgeous, bending in and out of forests and up over hills. The Jaunegg’s two single vineyards are Muri and Knily, which sit right next to each other on the amphitheater. At the top is the main Eichberg road and their home, and above the house is the hilltop Kogl Muri and their small plot of bush vines, called ‘stock kultur’ in German. The vineyards were planted between 1993 and 2003 and soils are a mix of gravel and sandstone.

While they have a big cellar, it’s a holdover from Daniel’s parents’ time and most of it isn’t used anymore. Daniel uses a combination of stainless steel and barrels and their wines range from direct-pressed white to very delicate skin-contact, made only from the 6 main varieties of South Styria.