Martin and Andrea Hirtl
Austria
Discovered by your trusty Archangels
- This couple share one passion above all others - creating great white wine.
- The love they have for the grape varietals that grow in their region, shines through in each vintage they produce, and our Archangels noticed.
- Their prize Pinot Blanc was chosen by your trusty Archangels during an Austrian tasting, and we think you will love it too!
Vineyard Location
Martin and Andrea Hirtl's Story
Martin and Andrea Hirtl's Story
"We are born and raised with wine. My name is Martin and I am the winemaker, I am from Poysdorf originally. My ancestors founded the estate in Poysdorf in 1729. Andrea is of another Austrian wine growing area, called Wagram. She moved to Poysdorf for love. Originally she worked in an office, but this was way to dry stuff for her. So she did some education on wine growing and wine making and is now the Marketing mastermind of this wine loving couple.
Poysdorf is called the wine capital of Austria. So what could there be else, than a winery dating back to the 18th century? This is the estate, we took over in 2001. There was no question becoming a winemaker or not, we grew up with wine, it is our culture and we love it. My parents focused on base wines for Sekt, which was delivered to the big Sekt-Houses of Austria. But we believed in the quality of Poysdorf and were convinced that we could make great quality wines.
Being with nature, meaning that wine making is a very diverse job. You have to know about the soil, about plants, grasses and herbs and which nutrients they give to the soil and to the vine. You have to know about animals and insects, treat them well to make them treat your vineyard well. You have to know about vines and each variety. You have to know about weather and climate. The work in the cellar is even more specific and diverse. You are producing groceries, so it is about hygiene, some chemistry and lots of knowledge of your ingredients. Then it comes to the tasting. You have to taste sensitively and concentrated, knowing what style you are standing for, what style your region is known for, and what style your clients want. This has to be in one bottle and the challenge is to taste well to bring these three demands into one product. But you have to be visionary, because you should know your way already in the vineyard. What was missed out there, you cannot repair in the cellar. Then it comes to marketing. Doing exactly what we are doing right now while writing this sentences. It is no easy task to explain what makes our wines special. Why we love our job. Why we are doing all this, while there are so many easier ways to make money. We simply love our life’s as winemakers in Poysdorf.
We want to show the quality of Poysdorf and the plurality of its soils. So we focus on single vineyard wines, what is not common in Poysdorf. Our wines are of typical Weinviertel style, with international character. Our wines shall have a long life, not just a few months and our wines shall be great food companions. Maybe the most special thing about our wines is the way they grow. We know that nature is our most loyal ally.
The saddest year in our estate's history was 1986. In February we had minus 35 degrees Celsius and all our vines were frostbitten. At least Martin's grandfather could cope with that very well and produced the first Ice Wine of Poysdorf.
Today, we have many reasons for joy. Every time our two little boys, Markus and Christian, ask to come with Martin and look what's up in the vineyards is a joy. There is no better feeling than having two boys who are interested in their parent's job.
In order to make the next step in the development of our winery we recently started a huge project; we build a new cellar. It is really needed to have more professional and intelligent structures. So buy our wine!
Naked wines is something completely new and has a very interesting idea. There is hardly any other trade partner which offers the possibility to get in touch with customers directly.We hope to convince people of the Weinviertel quality and maybe one day everybody in the UK will call for Austrian wine. This would be a dream!"