Austria · Wagram

Weingut Soellner

A family-run, Demeter-certified Wagram estate where Grüner Veltliner gains body, spice and juicy acidity through biodynamic farming, large wooden barrels and lees ageing.

The producer

Daniela Vigne and Toni Söllner run this multigenerational farm in Gösing am Wagram, Lower Austria. Organic farming began in 1994; the pair adopted biodynamic guidelines in 1995. Grüner Veltliner, Roter Veltliner and Riesling lead a predominantly white range grown between 250 and 350 metres, where warm Pannonian days ripen the fruit and cooler nights help retain acidity.

Ried Fumberg Grüner Veltliner shows the house style at its most detailed: hand-picked fruit from a two-hectare site is slowly fermented in large wooden barrels and aged on lees. The 2023 has yellow fruit, herbs, tea, melon, mint and a touch of smoke, with full body, fine acidity, waxy texture, savoury nut notes and a firm, juicy dry finish.

Known for

Biodynamic Wagram Grüner Veltliner, especially the lees-aged Ried Fumberg bottling.

Notable facts

The story

Toni Söllner’s first wine

In 1989, Toni Söllner made his first wine at the age of 16, while the family farm in Gösing am Wagram was already part of a line reaching back to his great-great-grandparents. Six years later Daniela Vigne met Toni and decided to take over the farm with him. In 1995, Daniela and Toni decided to work under biodynamic guidelines. Organic farming at the estate is dated from 1994, while another account places the use of biodynamic preparations later, in 2004. The present farm team includes Daniela and Toni alongside members of the Söllner and Vigne families and vineyard staff.

From the atlas

Weingut Soellner

At A Glance

Weingut Soellner is a family-run, Demeter-certified estate in Gösing am Wagram, Lower Austria, operated by Daniela Vigne and Toni Söllner. White grapes dominate the vineyards, so Grüner Veltliner, Roter Veltliner and Riesling carry the core of the range; the site-specific Ried Fumberg Grüner Veltliner shows how the farm’s slow wood-and-lees cellar work can turn that local grape into a broad, dry wine with grip.

The Producer

The Söllner family farm has passed through several generations, and its address remains in Gösing am Wagram. Daniela Vigne joined Toni Söllner in taking over the farm in 1995, bringing a working estate rather than a newly assembled label into the Wagram DAC landscape. The result is a range with everyday varieties and vineyard-designated bottles: a Grüner Veltliner labelled Ried Fumberg names both its grape and its particular Wagram site.

Place

Gösing sits in Lower Austria’s Wagram area, where Soellner’s vines grow between 250 and 350 metres. Hot Pannonian days help grapes reach ripe yellow-fruit character, while cool nights and the nearby Manhartsberg forest preserve the acidity heard in Fumberg’s juicy finish. On a Wagram DAC Ried Fumberg bottle, the regional designation places the wine in Wagram and “Ried Fumberg” narrows the address to one named vineyard.

Soil And Site

The vineyards are spread around Gösing across sites including Hengstberg, Fumberg, Berg Eisenhut, Goldberg, Vordere Taeler, Bruendlgraben and Weefel. Terraces of loess, mussel-chalk and red gravel give the farm several physical settings rather than one uniform soil, which is why a site wine such as Fumberg can be handled separately in the cellar. Fumberg itself is a two-hectare Grüner Veltliner site, worked from deeply rooted vines and selected mature berries into a concentrated, full-bodied dry white.

Story

The family’s history reaches back to Toni Söllner’s great-great-grandparents, who bought the property. Farming changed course in the 1990s: the estate dates organic work from 1994, and Daniela and Toni say they chose biodynamic guidelines in 1995. Those dates matter in the vines, where compost, cover crops and biodynamic preparations are part of the work behind the fruit sent to large wooden barrels; they also help explain why Fumberg is built through slow fermentation and lees ageing rather than a quick, neutral finish.

Vineyards And Cellar

Between the rows, Soellner uses herbs, legumes and flowering plants, while compost is made from horse and sheep manure, grape marc and biodynamic preparations. Conventional petroleum-based pesticides and herbicides are excluded, leaving the vineyard floor actively planted rather than bare. In the cellar, white wines ferment spontaneously and remain longer on fine lees; for Fumberg, hand-picked fruit is pneumatically pressed, then ferments very slowly in large wooden barrels. The lees add mid-palate texture, while the wood supports the wine without producing an overt oak flavour.

Wines

Grüner Veltliner, Roter Veltliner and Riesling form the white centre of the estate, with Muskateller and Müller-Thurgau extending the selection. Blauer Zweigelt, Merlot and Blaufränkisch provide red bottles, so the range moves beyond a single Austrian grape without losing its Wagram base. The clearest step up in documented vineyard detail is Ried Fumberg Grüner Veltliner: a dry, barrel-fermented, lees-aged white with full body, fine acidity and a firm finish. It is a different proposition from a simple varietal bottling because the label joins a named site, mature fruit selection and slower maturation.

In The Glass

The 2023 Ried Fumberg Grüner Veltliner opens with yellow fruit, herbs and tea, then adds melon, mint, smoke, nuts, wax and sea-buckthorn. On the palate, ripe fruit meets very fine acidity and a lightly sweet-melting texture from its development on lees. Yellow spice and delicate grip arrive toward the end, where the wine finishes firm, juicy and dry rather than soft or sugary. Its body comes from mature fruit and slow large-cask fermentation; its lift comes from the site’s retained acidity.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Ried Fumberg Grüner Veltliner, ideally the 2023 where available. It is Grüner Veltliner from a two-hectare vineyard, hand-picked, slowly fermented in large wooden barrels and held on its lees until maturation is complete. Expect yellow fruit, herbs, tea and melon over a full-bodied palate, with fine acidity, light waxy texture, savoury nuts and a juicy dry finish. This one bottle brings together the Wagram address, the named Fumberg site, biodynamic vineyard work and the estate’s patient cellar method.

Anecdote

In 1989, Toni Söllner made his first wine at the age of 16. Six years later Daniela Vigne met Toni and decided to take over the farm with him. In 1995, the same year, Daniela and Toni decided to work under biodynamic guidelines. The family farm was already rooted in Gösing through several generations, but the working team that now includes Daniela, Toni, relatives and vineyard staff began to take its present shape around those decisions. Toni’s first teenage wine came before the farm’s documented organic work of 1994 and before the couple’s 1995 biodynamic decision.

Final Word

Soellner’s most revealing bottle is not defined by a grand claim but by visible work: Grüner Veltliner from Fumberg, ripe fruit from a Wagram site, slow fermentation in large wood and lees texture held by fine acidity. It is dry, substantial and made to stay on the table.

Sources

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