Austria’s ‘Gut Oggau’ - a visit and wine tasting experience
Gut Oggau by Lake Neusiedl in Burgenland Austria, is known for its superb biodynamic wine and natural wine as well as its distinctive wine labels…
Gut Oggau Wines - Lake Neusiedl, Burgenland, Austria - Source: Winekeller
In June 2024 we led a private group of mainly American wine enthusiasts and wine tourists to Austria’s Burgenland wine region, to discover more about this beautiful wine tourism destination and Austrian wine in general, but especially in this region, Austrian red wine.
When planning the wine tour itinerary, the group leader was keen to incorporate a visit to Weingut Gut Oggau, whose wines are well known and respected in the USA and quite widely available there. We were aware of Gut Oggau and Gut Oggau wines, but we hadn’t had the opportunity before to visit the winery and meet the winemaker behind the wines and the famous labels, so we were very much looking forward to the visit!
Read on to see what we discovered and experienced!
About Gut Oggau
Eduard Tscheppe, Gut Oggau - Source: Winekeller
Weingut Gut Oggau is a top biodynamic, family wine estate, run by Eduard and Stephanie Tscheppe, located close to the shores of Lake Neusiedl in the village of Oggau, in Austria’s Burgenland province.
Eduard, from a winemaking family and Stephanie, with a background in the global hospitality industry, purchased the run-down estate and abandoned 17th century winery in Oggau in 2007. They then set about working with Nature to improve the soils and introduce minimum intervention processes that would ultimately produce the best quality grapes. This resulted in Gut Oggau achieving a Demeter Biodynamic certification for their work in the vineyard and the cellar and a reputation for playing a pioneering role in the development of Natural Wines
Today Gut Oggau farms 15 hectares of vineyards and is known around the world for its superb, well-balanced wines, which are some of the most sought-after Austrian wines.
Where is Gut Oggau?
Gut Oggau is located on the western side of Lake Neusiedl, Austria - or ‘Neusiedlersee’ - in the small Burgenland wine region of Leithaberg. Key features of the terroir here include the protection to the vines and cooling effects offered by the Leithaberg hills, as well as the warming winds from nearby Lake Neusiedl which help to ripen the grapes.
The Leithaberg DAC is one of the oldest wine-growing regions in the world and both white and red wines are produced - in terms of white wines, single varietals or blends from Pinot blanc, Grüner Veltliner, Welschriesling and Chardonnay and for the red wines, predominantly Blaufränkisch and Zweigelt, Austrian native grape varieties.
Wine producers here produce wines according to the Leithaberg DAC as well as the more relaxed ‘Burgenland’ DAC.
Read more about the Burgenland wine region and Lake Neusiedl.
Gut Oggau wines
As well as being known for the quality of its ‘natural wines’, what makes Gut Oggau stand out in the world of wine, is its unique approach to the naming and branding of its ‘family of wines’.
Rather than categorising its wines by grape variety and/or vineyard name it has developed a highly distinctive and personal approach, based on depicting and describing each wine as a fictitious personality belonging to 3 generations of a family.
Each generation represents wines made from grapes grown in one of the 3 different Gut Oggau vineyards. So wines made from grapes in the youngest vineyard, with youthful, carefree soil characters, are categorised in the ‘young generation’ - wines made from grapes in the more mature vineyard are categorised in the ‘parents' generation’, which exhibit more experienced and relaxed qualities - and wines made from the older vineyard are from the ‘grandparents generation’, typically wise and good-natured.
By describing a wine as a ‘personality’, Gut Oggau succeeds in doing away with technical jargon and presents a wine in a way which we can all relate to and understand. More than the words, Gut Oggau has created the most wonderful and simplistic approach to the design of the labels, visually representing each wine as an individual personality. So the wines become characters which we all warm to - where ‘Gut Oggau Theodora’ is far more appealing than a ‘white grape variety’ wine and ‘Gut Oggau Timotheus’ more attractive than a ‘red wine grape variety’ wine.
Our wine tasting at Gut Oggau
We spent 2 hours at Gut Oggau, which involved a tour of the winery followed by a tasting of 7-8 Gut Oggau wines, including some old and rare wines, in the beautiful courtyard. What made the visit extra special is that Eduard Tscheppe himself conducted the tour and the tasting. Eduard’s passion for and dedication to Nature, caring for the soil and the vines and producing the most natural and authentic wines, was truly obvious, infectious and inspiring.
The tasting was a real educational experience. Eduard taught us how to taste the wines and to listen to our senses, without being influenced by the normal wine tasting descriptions we so often find on labels.
After the tasting we spent time in the Gut Oggau shop, browsing and purchasing the distinctive branded wines, products and gifts.
Planning a visit to Gut Oggau and Burgenland’s Lake Neusiedl:
Getting to Lake Neusiedl:
Neusiedl am See is the most accessible place to reach on Lake Neusiedl and is situated just off the A4 motorway, roughly 1-hour’s drive from Vienna. Getting there by train is just as easy, with frequent direct services to the Neusiedl am See train station.
Where to stay at Lake Neusiedl - Visit Eisenstadt
When visiting the west side of Lake Neusiedl, a great option in terms of where to stay is the lovely town of Eisenstadt, the elegant, historic capital of Burgenland and home to the stunning, baroque Esterházy Palace. Eisenstadt is also just a 15 minutes drive away from Gut Oggau and 60km away from capital Vienna. (There is also a good train service from Eisenstadt to Vienna).
As well as being known as home to the Esterházy princes, Eisenstadt is very much linked to the conductor and composer Joseph Haydn, who worked at the palace and lived here for over 30 years, from 1732-1809 - in fact it Eisenstadt is known as ‘Haydn city’.
A visit to Esterházy Palace (see below) is a must when in Eisenstadt but also take time to wander through the old town with its pedestrianised main street, great shops and bars and the lovely small lanes and alleyways.
If you visit the tourist office in Eisenstadt you can pick up a map and conduct your own walking tour of historic Eisenstadt - or book on a guided walking tour - either way it’s worth doing! See the lovely Haydn Church, walk through the former Jewish quarter, visit the former stables opposite the palace, enjoy the former royal gardens and see where Joseph Haydn once lived!
Esterházy Palace Eisenstadt
We would highly recommend stepping back in time and history and doing a guided tour of the beautiful Baroque jewel that is Esterházy Palace, right in the centre of Eisenstadt. It has a fascinating history, with origins dating back to the 13th century and an incredible musical heritage - it is also the cultural centre of Burgenland today - and is one of the most beautiful Baroque palaces in Austria. Note if you are driving, there is an excellent underground car park right by the palace and there is a good restaurant/café oppposite the palace along with a bar and wine shop.
The highlight of the tour is the famous concert hall, Haydn Hall with its wonderful acoustics and Baroque frescoes and for several centuries, the setting for many splendid concerts and events.
Accommodation in Eisenstadt
We can recommend staying at the lovely 4 star Hotel Galántha , conveniently located right in the centre of Eisenstadt and next to the world-famous ‘Schloss Esterházy’. It is known for its sophisticated and elegant botanical themed decor, as well as its breathtaking views from the rooftop bar, over Eisenstadt towards stunning Lake Neusiedl. There is also a lovely spa area and restaurant.
We stayed here with our group and enjoyed an excellent dinner and the buffet breakfast was also very good.
Visit the wine town of Rust
Rust is best known for its nesting storks and as a wine-growing community and it’s also the most picturesque and historic spot to visit around Lake Neusiedl - conveniently located south of Oggau so you could combine a visit to Rust with a visit to Gut Oggau.
Rust has just 2,000 inhabitants yet it has a rich history in wine, spanning back to the Middle Ages. The town square at the heart of the historic city centre is teeming with great coffee shops, wine bars and restaurants, along with some lovely shops and historic sights such as the ‘Fischerkirche’, the oldest preserved church in Burgenland with original frescoes dating from the 13th century.
See here for ideas of what to see and do in Rust.
Tips for visiting Lake Neusiedl - Neusiedlersee
Read all about Lake Neusiedl here - with our personal recommendations about where to go and what to do, including cycling round the lake!
Also if you travel to Burgenland’s Lake Neusiedl take time to visit the beautiful Seewinkel National Park.
For more information about planning a trip to Lake Neusiedl, visit the official Neusiedlersee website.
Conclusion and personal highlights
What an experience visiting Gut Oggau was. We all left with the opinion that the Gut Oggau way of caring for the vines, grapes and wines is the only way forward. It was truly both informative and inspiring. Gut Oggau wines don’t come cheap - neither does a wine tasting - but once you understand what goes into making a Gut Oggau wine then the high price feels justified. Eduard and Stephanie are 100% focused on their passion and are uncompromising in their goal to produce the best possible grapes and therefore wines - and it all makes sense and it works.
We can highly recommend the wines as well as visiting Gut Oggau, to learn firsthand what goes into making a Gut Oggau wine - and it’s a lot!! Try to make time to see more of Lake Neusiedl too as it’s truly beautiful.