AUSTRIA
Huber
At the tender age of twenty-three, Markus Huber took over the task of making wine at his family’s winery in the Traisental region of Austria. The Huber family has been making wine from their land for five generations, but has owned it since 1778, which equates into nine generations. The first four generations practiced coopering. Markus and his father, Anton share the efforts of viticulture, while it is now all Markus’s hand in the cellar. Wines from Austria named Markus Huber the young winemaker of the year 2002. Also in Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, edition 123 it is written that "25-year old Huber is one of the most promising new talents in the Austrian wine industry".
Like most vineyards in Austria, the vineyards are planted along the river, and up into the valley, which has been created by the river. Huber is situated along the Traisen River, just 10km south of the Wachau and Kremstal. Vines are planted on loess soils, as well as decomposing primary rock and gravel with high iron content. The Traisental region is one of the smallest regions of all the wine regions in Austria, with approximately 713ha and 15 producers that sell to the public from their vineyards. Austria has one of the highest diurnal shifts in Europe with temperatures ranging into the 90’s during the summer and evening temperatures dropping into the 50’s and 60’s; this shift coaxes the aromatics of the wines to develop in the grapes until ripeness from late September till middle November.
There is also an area of great interest along the eastern border of Austria named Neusiedlersee (hooked-on-phonics version: ni’ siedler see, meaning “New Settling Lake/Sea”. The reason this region is so unique is that without fail, humidity builds during the autumn, which allows noble rot, as well as a temporizing effect, which allows the grapes to reach over-ripeness. It is the winemaker’s discretion whether to harvest in the fall or wait until the winter freezes to harvest. Markus waits until the freeze.