Loimer

HISTORY 

Renowned Austrian winemaker Fred Loimer comes from a long-established Langenlois winegrowing family – Langenlois is the largest wine-producing town in Austria, where Fred was involved in winemaking from a young age. Today, Fred Loimer is one of the most respected Austrian winegrowers on the international stage. Since his first steps in the wine business, Fred Loimer was determined to carve his own path, ready to shake up established and traditional approaches. Even as a young graduate of the Federal College for Viticulture in Klosterneuburg, Fred Loimer attracted attention during his search for new paths. He sparked somewhat of an uproar in the early 1990s in Langenlois and the surrounding area: there, the daring Junior filled Austria’s showcase grape variety, Grüner Veltliner, into barrels and was delighted with the robust wood tone! He also applied a similar touch to Chardonnay, which was still quite exotic in Austria back then. When he took over the winery from his father in 1998, he stuck labels on his bottles that had nothing to do with the winemaking romance that was in demand at the time. There was also great excitement and a lot of talk around Fred Loimer in 2000 when he constructed a minimalist black cube on a 150-year-old, hand-dug loess cellar in Langenlois – thus adding new spice to the charming local Kellergassen, or cellar streets. A real pioneer of the much-heralded wine architecture movement, which grew to include the world-famous Loisium that opened in Langenlois only three years later. Fred Loimer’s beginnings signaled the start of a new winemaking philosophy in the region and a new approach to the traditional and conventional ways. 

WINEMAKING AND SUSTAINABILITY 

As a young father, Fred Loimer approached the concept of sustainability in a new light, and he ultimately came to the conviction that closer-to-nature viticulture protects soils and resources as well as increases the quality of the wines. www.loimer.at Biodynamic practices reinforce the character of the wines as well as makes them livelier and better expresses the specificities of their origins. The Loimer winery began the conversion to biodynamic agriculture in 2006. Each of the many steps and measurements taken in the biodynamic process gives the wine a piece of its origin, environment and captures the journey from the vine to the bottle. Today, the Loimer winery sees itself as a living organism. The vineyards, plants, and animals are part of an interconnected system, and so are the people who work in the winery and those who ultimately enjoy them in the glass. Convinced that this was the future of wine, Fred Loimer and other winemaking colleagues founded RespektBIODYN in 2007, a community that consistently implements and promotes biodynamics in viticulture. When it comes to winemaking, Fred Loimer lets the natural processes go to work in the cellar. Fermentation occurs spontaneously thanks to a natural yeast found in their vineyards and cellar. The winemaking team waits, observes, and learns from the reactions that take place and only intervenes if necessary. The philosophy of the team is to let each wine’s personality and soul flourish on its own. When Loimer wines appeared in 2006, they were quite different. For decades, wines often had been smoothed over through excessive technology and robbed of their individuality. But to Fred Loimer, amused by the reactions, the irony wasn’t lost on him. He gave his natural wines the label “mit Achtung!“ – which means “with respect!“. So – no one could say that they hadn’t been warned… Loimer wines are stored in wood barrels or stainless-steel tanks and are all given time to develop and mature before they are ready to enjoy. 

THE VINEYARDS 

The Loimer winery resides on 70 hectares (172 acres) in Langenlois, the capital of the Kamptal winegrowing region of Austria, located in the northeast part of the country. Langenlois is uniquely positioned for wine growing. To the north is the Waldviertel, from which the cool evening air comes. To the south, vineyards receive ample amounts of sunlight, combined with the Pannonian Basin’s mild climate, resulting in hot days and cool nights – typical for the Kamptal and optimal for the aromas and flavors of the grape varieties grown there. Within the Kamptal region, Fred Loimer has five vineyards (Loiserberg, Käferberg, Seeberg, Steinmassl, and Heiligenstein) where he grows Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Zweigelt used for his single varietal and blended wines.