Josef Ehmoser

The Josef Ehmoser winery is located in Tiefenthal in the community of Grossweikersdorf, 30 kilometres east of Krems and 45 kilometres west of Vienna. Here the third generation vintner Josef Ehmoser and his wife Martina are enriching the well known Austrian winegrowing region of Wagram. Five aspects make the wines from the Ehmoser Winery distinctive: the climate, the soil, the location, the varieties and the vintner himself. The Wagram produces "wines with terroir" and the loess soil unique to Europe plays an important role. On a base of primitive rock lies marine sediments and clay on which the loess reaches up to twelve meters high. Vineyard terraces are found on this deep soil. Loess is especially fertile, has a lime concentration of up to 30 percent, and optimally stores water. The vineyards of the Josef Ehmoser Winery are located in Tiefenthal on the left bank of the Danube, somewhat removed from the river, between Grafenegg in the west and Heldenberg in the east. The vineyards grow to their perfect natural maturation on the sloping sites south of the Danube such as Hohenberg (deep loess), Steinberg (loess with sand) and Georgenberg (deep loess). Their philosophy is to "respect nature" and this attitude is also reflected in their wines. In order to preserve the power of nature in wine-growing intervention is as little as possible and but as much as necessary on the natural landscape. They say "we are mere observers with respect to these elements. It is only in harmony with nature that the true character of our wines thrives. The grapes achieve harmonious ripeness through respect for the processes and conditions and through understanding our wines.... we also apply this philosophy in our work in the wine cellar. We support the potential of our wines, stressing their personality without forcing them on a prescribed path. Thus the power of nature remains fully intact."