Location: Kitzeck-Sausal, South Styria
Hectares: 8.5 (4.5 vines, 4 fruit trees)
Farming: Certified biodynamic
Winemaking: Sulfur rarely used, only at bottling as needed, wild yeasts, long aging in barrel

Herbert König is a 4th generation farmer working with grapes and orchard fruits, with a deep historical lens towards the work of his grandparents and parents. Herbert’s grandfather, Fritz, came from indigenous Slovenians, moved to Kittenberg and started farming. He was a growing pioneer and wrote 3 books about farming, becoming one of the first professional farmers in South Styria. Fritz was an avid collector of flora from around the world and planted numerous trees and plants to see what would grow in the Styrian climate. A walk around their farm is an absolute history lesson…ginko, Sequoia, rhododendron, all suitcases to Austria from Fritz’s travels. Perhaps most important are the 3 New Zealand pear trees he planted; Herbert now has 250 thanks to his grandfather’s work. When Fritz left to fight in WWII, his son (Herbert’s father) took over managing the farm at age 15, alongside his mother. He sadly died in a tractor accident when Herbert was 6, so much of what Herbert knows of farming he’s learned from his mother, from friends, and from natural instinct.

One of Herbert’s biggest goals is to connect young winegrowers with older ones to share as much knowledge as possible, and in fact, we owe Herbert a debt of gratitude for introducing us to so many of the winegrowers we represent in the US.

The König farm sits at almost 1500ft on pure schist soils, although they have vineyards in other parts of the Sausal planted to limestone. Farming is organic and biodynamic and nothing has been mowed for 3 years. A small flock of sheep grazes the farm and pigs are on the way.

Winemaking is extremely hands off, with time being Herbert’s best friend. Most wines are aged for a minimum of 2 years before release. Everything is aged in either oak or amphora, and he salvaged usable staves from his grandfather’s barrels, making 4 barrels from the 1930s-40s (using 12 old barrels).

Fruit juices are a hugely important part of the König story, and theirs are widely considered to be the best in the country. You can throw a stone from Michelin restaurants to cozy inns all across the country, and it’s likely that they’re pouring Herbert’s juices. In fact, the juice industry in Austria is all thanks to the work of Herbert’s grandfather. Importing Wachstum König is committing to supporting the juices as much as the wines, and we’re incredibly proud to represent both sides of Herbert’s work.