A good vintage

“Flooded” wine fermented into a special drop

The wine cellars are flooded, but this does not affect this year's wine.(Bild: Florian Lechner)

Water does not necessarily have to spoil wine: Winemaker Max Brustbauer from Loiben hopes to make a virtue out of the recent flood disaster in Lower Austria - namely a special wine!  

The long legendary Hauer from the Wachau is used to misery! Time and again, the Danube floods spill directly into his 1000-year-old wine cellar. Although the floods cause a great deal of material damage there, the wine is apparently unaffected.

Already hit by floods in 2013
As reported, the dedicated Wachau winegrower and his Kati had recently saved his "Verkommen" wines. These were the bottles that were buried in the Danube sand after the flood of the century in 2013 and bobbed down there without a label. The oenologically fascinating thing - the unique maturation process invites and invites you to guess the vintage, wine and vineyard. Still a pure drinking pleasure.

After his dive into his wine cellar, which is more than 1000 years old, Max Brustbauer can smile again - the vintage will certainly be excellent.(Bild: Florian Lechner)

After his dive into his more than 1000-year-old wine cellar, Max Brustbauer can smile again - the vintage will certainly be excellent.(Bild: Florian Lechner)

After his dive into his wine cellar, which is more than 1000 years old, Max Brustbauer can smile again - the vintage will certainly be excellent.(Bild: Florian Lechner)

But now the great flow and the droplets were once again haunting the family. Within minutes, the tanks and barrels were up to 1.5 meters high. Max and Kati had to wear waders to the laboriously pressed wine. Surprising initial tasting analysis by the two courageous men: "Our wines from this year's vintage promise a unique vintage in terms of taste thanks to the spontaneous fermentation fueled by the storm disaster and the traditional, natural production without fining!"

"Priceless" help from the fire department
"We were working day and night to measure the water, levels and temperature. But without the help of the fire department, we and our wines would have been lost. Because then our precious grape juices would really have been lost," admit the Brustbauers with deep gratitude.

A tasting with the Florianis is already planned after the extreme event and the cleaning of the underground storage facilities.