– Ried Katterstein –

The vineyard Ried Katterstein was first mentioned in official records in the year 1570, and consists of many small parcels of vines, separated from each other by ditches, watercourses, embankments and wooded tracts. Climbing upward from 220 metres above sea level, these vineyards on the Leithabebirge above Kleinhöflein extend to the edge of the forest that forms the site’s northern border at 300 metres.

The site’s southeastern exposure and the forest that protects it from cold winds provide the vines with conditions favourable to easy development in springtime, while at ripening the sun’s first rays encourage warming early in the day and rapid drying of the grapes from the morning dew. For this reason, clusters can hang on the vine far into the autumn without running the risk of an untimely onset of the ‘noble’ botrytis fungus.

In Ried Katterstein, the crystalline schists that make up the core of the Leithagebirge come to the surface, together with a variably prominent proportion of limestone – the grapes ripen here to produce an intensely spicy chardonnay. The total surface of Ried Katterstein comprises 28 hectares, 3,84 of them are cultivated by the Kollwentz Estate.