Weingut Josef Schmid

Region: Kremstal, Niederösterreich

Owners: Josef and Irene Schmid

Winemaker: Josef Schmid

The winery:  The Schmid family winery located in the town of Stratzing in the Kremstal have been making wine since 1865.Josef Schmid took over the winery from his father in 1991.The winery belongs to the prestigious consortium Traditionsweingüter Österreich.

Vineyards: 19 hectares (15 hectares estate grown plus 4 hectares leased)

SUSTAINABLE and hand harvested. The vineyards have been cultivated following Controlled Integrated Production that only allows minimum intervention by the winemaker and guarantees a near-to-nature wine production over the full process from the vineyards to the wines. The CIP methods represent an intermediate stage between conventional farming and organic or bio-dynamic farming. Some of the vineyards and vinification processes have been fully transferred to organic farming.

Vinification:  The grapes were harvested manually, destemmed, and carefully pressed after skin contact for several hours. Neutral yeast or spontaneous fermentation is applied depending on year, the wine stays on fine lees for several months.

Annual production: 140,000 bottles / 11,670 cases

Soil: The soils of the individual vineyards vary substantially and range from loess, gravel, and loam to calcareous sediments and primary rocks of a prehistoric sea. This offers perfect conditions for Josef Schmid to provide each grape variety with the optimal ground.

Climate: Mediterranean and Continental climate blend into each other and provide the region with lot of rainfall (brought by winds from the Atlantic ocean in the north west and from the Mediterranean sea in the south), dry and warm air (from the eastern Continental or Pannonian climate) and high temperature differences between day and night as well as between winter and summer. 

Single vineyards: Kremser Frechau, Kremser Fliegerin, Kremser Gebling, Kremser Kerschbaum, Stratzinger Sunogeln

Varieties: White wine: 90% in total, including Grüner Veltliner (65%), Riesling (10%) etc. Sauvignon Blanc, Muskateller etc. Red wine: 10% in total