The village of Hagenbrunn in Lower Austria is home to the vineyards and cellars of the Schwarzböck winegrowing estate operated by Rudolf and Anita Schwarzböck, a husband and wife team of winegrowers and winemakers. Our vineyards are mainly located in the towns of Hagenbrunn, Stammersdorf and Enzersfeld and extend over a total of just under 20 hectares.
Rudolf and Anita Schwarzböck enjoy an excellent reputation as a successful winegrowing team, having begun operating the Schwarzböck winegrowing estate in 2003. The link between tradition and contemporary thinking is apparent here as well; their love of winemaking has run in the family for centuries. Rudolf Schwarzböck runs the estate’s winegrowing and winemaking activities. His main focus centres on the vineyards, where quality starts with the vine, and on the cellars where great care is taken to preserve the highest quality in order to produce naturally authentic wines.
Openness, transparency and accessibility are of the utmost importance to Anita Schwarzböck. She is responsible for selling the wines, and for making sure the estate is well-organised and its administration runs smoothly.
Openness, transparency and accessibility are particularly important to us, arising from our dedication to produce the highest quality wines. We strive to achieve an even balance between maintaining proven traditions and values on one hand, and welcoming change and promoting continual development on the other. It is our belief that it is important to be equipped to meet changing demands and new challenges, while at the same time remaining true to who we are. On one hand we stand for winegrowing practices in tune with nature and in harmony with terroir conditions, requiring insight and experience in the way nature works. On the other hand, we have only the best equipment in our cellars, allowing our wines to develop as gently as possible, for example by using various levels in the cellar to avoid having to pump the wine much, or by carefully regulating temperatures during fermentation and storage.
Aichleiten: Facing southeast, extremely stony with calcified sandstone and marl, partially covered with loess, gives the wine its depth, finesse and mineral tone.
Hölle: Facing south, calcified sandstone with marl, very warm. The warm soil produces very mature Veltliner grapes on a yearly basis; wines are very indicative of the terroir.
Sätzen: Facing east with soil conditions typical of the Weinviertel region, i.e., deep layers of loess soil with a somewhat higher clay content; produces a Veltliner with a brilliant fruity flavour and a very lush character.
Pöcken: Located on a ridge of a plateau of Bisamberg Hill with visibly rocky soil. A sunny location, but not too hot, especially suited for growing Riesling wines which develop a cool fruity flavour thanks to the conditions typical of this location and extract their mineral tones from the soil. Download aerial image of Hagenbrunn.
Kirchberg: Gently rolling hill with deep loess and clay layers. Sunny location in Vienna-Stammersdorf, deep loess layers that store precipitation very well and warm quickly. Produces a Grüner Veltliner with a very high extract content. (pdf)
Falkenberg: On the eastern slope of Bisamberg Hill, deep, sandy clay layers, warm location. High extract content, bold, corpulent. Download aerial image of Stammersdorf. (pdf)
Fürstenberg: Steep location facing south on an over 35-degree slope; nearly cauldron-shaped. Sandy soil and dry, forcing the vines to push their roots deep. (pdf)
Schachern: Facing south this location in the eastern Weinviertel is characterised by a sandy underground with an upper bed of clay and loess. The soil is rich in lime. Due to the cool climate, the vegetation period starts later. These wines feature a high aroma and crispy acidity while the alcohol content is low. Download aerial image of Stützenhofen. (pdf)
Our cellars are equipped with state-of-the-art technology. All our grapes are harvested very selectively and by hand only. The harvested grapes are then processed as gently and quickly as possible. After being gently squeezed, the juice is cooled in stainless steel tanks and carefully monitored while it ferments. Typically white wines are fermented in a controlled and cool environment (between 17 and 20° Celsius).
Our fruity red wines mature in large wooden barrels and used barriques to aid their aging (by supplying oxigen). Our meaty red wines age in small French oak barrels with a volume of 300 litres each.
By making use of the various levels of the cellar, we can largely avoid having to pump the wine so it can develop gently. An important factor in producing high-quality wines is the practice of allowing them to mature slowly. Bottling is done relatively late and depends on the maturation process of the wine.
