S1E56: Styria, Steeply, Sauvignon with Alex Sattler of Sattlerhof, and Stefan Tement of Weingut Tement

D’Amato & Szabo: Wine Thieves

You probably already know about Austrian grüner veltliner. It’s the country’s most planted variety, and the wine you’re most likely to find on store shelves and restaurant wine lists. You may even know that Austria makes exceptional riesling and fine reds from local specialties like blaufränkisch and sankt laurent. But what may be news is that this middle European country is also the source of some of the world’s best sauvignon blanc, from a small region in the country’s deep south called Steiermark, or Styria.
Styria is one of Austria’s wettest and most humid regions. Pressure systems from the nearby Adriatic Sea regularly drive moist, unstable pockets of air up into Austria where they eventually run up against the Alps. As air masses rise, storm clouds form, and then slip back down into Styria and drop up to 1200 millimetres of rain annually, at the upper limit for quality grape growing. Warm, moist air is also a catalyst for vine diseases of all kinds, a challenge especially for the small but growing number of organic grape growers in the region. So what makes quality wine possible and worthwhile in this seemingly inhospitable place? The answer, in a word, is hills. Steep hills. In fact, outside of the Alps proper, Styria has the country’s steepest slopes, the most extreme of which tip over 115% grade. That’s steeper than even the most radical sites in the Wachau.
To better understand Styria's calling card, sauvignon blanc, John and Sara speak to two producers widely considered at the pinnacle of quality : Alex Sattler of Sattlerhof, and Stefan Tement of Weingut Tement. These two are representative of the growing number of young winemakers taking over family estates and pushing the limits on quality production, making Styria a particularly dynamic and quality-focused . Put down your grüner and get ready for a vertigo-inducing episode of Wine Thieves!