Location: Gols, Burgenland
Hectares: 30 (20 owned, 10 leased)
Farming: Certified biodynamic
Winemaking: Combination of amphora, barrel, stainless, lots of skin contact, low to no sulfur

Judith Beck is a third-generation farmer and winemaker in Gols, Burgenland, on the northeastern side of Lake Neusiedl. At 19 she was trying to figure out her career goals but hadn’t really considered going into her family’s wine business until her mom encouraged her to give viticulture school a try. While simultaneously studying at university (a short-lived stint, she only lasted a few months), it became clear to Judith that farming and winemaking were exactly what she wanted to be doing and after years of working alongside her father, she took the helm of the Beck winery in 2004. Her husband, Uli, is also from Gols and was a chemist working in pharma in Vienna, but left the industry to join Judith when she was pregnant with their daughter, Paula.

Judith’s father, Matthias, was one of the founding members of the Pannobile association, a group of 7 neighboring wineries in Gols that, in 1994, formed in order to create a higher standard of wines for this part of Burgenland. Today, the group is 8 wineries strong, and they work closely together, consulting with each other, tasting together, and generally putting forth wines that really represent Gols and the surrounding vineyards. At the time that Judith joined her father, nearly all farming in Burgenland was conventional, but by the early 2000s, the Pannobile growers were very interested in ways that they could work more ecologically and sustainably. They hired a teacher to share the work of Steiner and Fukuoka and by 2006/7, the entire association decided to convert to organic and biodynamic practices. In most vintages each winery produces a red and white Pannobile wine which best represents the group’s vision for the region. The wines are tasted and approved by the group as a whole before they can be labeled Pannobile. 

At 30 hectares, Beck is a sizable winery, but also fairly on par with the region. Judith and Uli own 20 hectares, all farmed biodynamically, and they lease an additional 10 hectares that are organic. Soils in their vines are sandy loam and limestone and elevations don’t reach higher than 500 feet, also very typical for the region. Most of the Burgenland that surrounds Lake Neusiedl is flat and extremely low-elevation, and in Gols it follows suit with a gently sloping hillside and plateau, all planted with vines. Zweigelt thrives in the flats with blaufränkisch on the slopes, and then white varieties that are sensitive to botrytis are planted in the gravelly soils on top of the plateau.

It’s important to understand the large role that Lake Neusiedl has on this part of Burgenland. At 22 miles long and about 6.5 miles wide, the lake offers humidity and keeps temperatures moderate throughout Burgenland’s surrounding vineyards. Sitting across the Austrian-Hungarian border and along the Pannonian Plain, the lake also fuels wind for most of the year. As a result, powdery mildew and botrytis pressure is fairly common in Judith’s vines, and she uses various tea sprays from plants such as yarrow, nettle, and horsetail to help mitigate mildew issues.

Historically Burgenland was a white wine region, but the red wine boom of the 80s completely changed the makeup of the vines and most people pulled out their white varieties in favor of zweigelt, and later blaufränkisch. In fact, for a long time, farmers tore their vines out every 20 years or so, replanting with new, fresh plants, so old vines are rare here, if they even exist.

Judith is wonderfully creative and forward-thinking and has garnered a beloved following all over the world. She’s a beacon for energetic, playful wines in Burgenland, working fastidiously in the vines and cellar. Her portfolio of wines is sizable, including two pet nats, whites, rosé, skin-contact, and red wines. The cellar is full of large old acacia from her grandparents, stainless steel, clay amphora, and lots of barrels of different sizes. Judith’s ‘Bambule!’ wines reference the German word for hullabaloo and the idea of protest and revolt. While she’s committed to making the classically-styled wines that Gols and her family are known for, the Bambule! line expresses her desire to go against the grain, to work in a more experimental fashion. There are 12 wines in the Bambule! family and all of the whites are made with varying levels of skin contact.