Rennersistas, Zweigelt 2017

Producer: Renner & Rennersistas
Region: Burgenland, Austria
Grape Varieties: Zweigelt
Viticulture: Organic, Biodynamic
Category: Red
Size: 750ml

Renner and Sistas is a third-generation winegrower and winemaking family in Burgenland, in the village of Gols. In 1988, parents Birgit and Helmuth started the winery using their family vineyard land; as of 2015, their daughters Stefanie and Susanne took the reigns on the process. Little brother Georg joined the winery in 2020, so all siblings now work together. Stefanie very much spearheads the winemaking at the winery, however: it is her endless, infectious energy and curiosity that guides the interpretation of fruit for her family’s 12 ha of estate vineyards.

Farming at Renner and Sistas is organic and biodynamic (fully certified by Demeter in 2018). Otherwise, the practices are gentle: soft pruning, a focus on biodiversity in the use of cover crops, and always manual harvest (for which Stefanie and Georg are actually present). In vinifying, Stefanie experiments with élevage each year for each cuvée; there is no ‘recipe’ for any wine. Although each wine in the lineup is typically made each vintage, Stefanie tweaks techniques, fermentations, etc. based on how the fruit comes in each year. Profiles of wines will change as a result, based on this chef-in-the-kitchen experimenting she initiates each vintage. Generally, the wines are always given time for aging, usually in a mix of oak and clay amphora. No filtration, no fining. The preference is for use of fine lees as a protective agent instead of SO2 as preservative. As such, sulfur additions shift and are only done occasionally (between 2-20 mg/l added during vinification to certain barrels). The Renner siblings’ wines speak of the windswept climate from which they hail, the calming influence of the nearby Lake Neusiedl, and their dedicated and attentive farming.