Ecker Zweigelt (1 Liter) 2014

Bernhard took over winemaking in 1998, but the Ecker family has 400 years of history farming and raising animals in the area. Since 2004, Bernhard has been the chairman of the “Wagramer Selektion,” the second oldest winery association in Austria.

Ecker’s 30 individual plots lie in some of the best locations around Kirchberg am Wagram, including 50 + year old grüner veltliner in the erste lage Mordthal. Ecker is a specialist in roter veltliner as well, and has helped save the plantings of this ancient variety, which have dwindled to under 200 hectares. Interestingly, roter veltliner is not directly related to grüner veltliner, but is a parent variety to many other indigenous Austrian varieties, including neuberger and rotgipfler. It requires poor soils, due to its vigor, and Ecker’s vines are planted in the rocky, gravel rich Steinberg.