The Soil

Here in the hillside plots that together make up the terraced Mugler vineyard, the soil contains a mix of migmatite and amphibolite as well as Gföhl gneiss, and the same goes for the lower Achleiten and upper Klaus vineyards. Heavily weathered and even crumbling in places, both types of rock are clearly identifiable in the soil profile. The soil is sandy with only a small amount of silty sediment. Although they don’t contain any chalk, the rocks exhibit limescale deposits, which are a remnant of the earlier loess covering. Because it’s exposed to the north-east, the dry summer weather has less of an impact here than in south-facing vineyards. As the soil warms quickly, bud break begins early in the spring. All in all, Riesling feels right at home in this less fruitful subsoil.