Winery Erwin Sabathi

The southern Styrian winery Erwin Sabathi has been one of Austria's style-defining wineries for years and has played a decisive role in shaping the international reputation of southern Styria as the origin of great white wines. The Sabathi family cultivates their steep vineyards around Leutschach with a clear focus on origin, precision and ripeness. Sauvignon Blanc, Morillon - the name for Chardonnay in Styria - and Gelber Muskateller in particular display a remarkable combination of cool freshness, chalky minerality and profound structure.
Under the management of Erwin Sabathi, the estate has developed into one of the country's leading terroir wine estates over the past decades. Today, the focus is primarily on the large vineyards such as Pössnitzberg, Poharnig and Krepskogel, whose wines are often only released on the market after a long period of maturation. The best bottlings combine salty tension, fine reduction and enormous precision with a style that is more reminiscent of great white wines from Burgundy than of aromatically loud Sauvignon Blanc types. Despite all the concentration, the wines never seem heavy, but always clear, cool and characterised by their origin. This makes Erwin Sabathi one of the most important ambassadors of a modern, terroir-emphasised Austrian understanding of wine.