Claus Preisinger

Having begun to make wine with his father purely for fun, surfer Claus Preisinger took an early interest in viticulture, but it was not before working with his nearby winemaker Hans Nitthaus that he knew wine was something he wanted to pursue on his own, which led him to his first vintage in 2000. He has since grown the spread across 64 parcels and 19 hectares, which is quite substantial, even for Burgenland.

Widely considered to be the first Austrian winemaker to play around combining Georgian Amphorae (Qvevri) and skin-contact wine production, Claus Preisinger is not one to shy aware from experimentation and keeps his cellar-intervention to the bare minimum with hardly any sulphur, if any, added to his wines before bottling.

Treating his land with a holistic approach, working in line with the lunar calendar and embracing the power of the cosmos, Claus Preisinger is a producer who is able to work in such ways on a larger scale - without it affecting the high quality of wine he produces.

With his wide range of plots, he has lots of grapes to choose from. The wine ‘Bonsai’ is one interesting plot of Blaufränkisch of his, which the vines are grown very small using a ‘Stockkultur’ technique, making them resemble small Bonsai trees. They are also planted very closely together, 9000 vines per hectare which mean the vines fight amongst each other for nutrients. In this Bonsai wine, Claus aims to reproduce something similar to Jura Poulsard, a strong influence on him, by making the Blaufränkisch as light as possible being still a red, but also having a subtle complexity to it too. He achieves this partially from a short 3 day maceration period, enabling very light tannins and juicy, soft structure for the Blaufränkisch grapes.

In regards to Claus’s ethos and philosophy to winemaking “My wines are a reflection of nature. I do not intervene artificially, neither in the vineyard nor in the cellar. Even if this could improve the result, I would rather be satisfied with what nature gives us than meddling and manipulating myself.” - Claus Preisinger

Preisinger’s wines vary in price and style. You can find his exceptional Pinot Noir at his higher level and his Puszta Libre at the entry level. Puszta Libre is a wine inspired by the Beaujolais production style, designed to be served chilled. We personally see it as the best value, natural red wine there is available, ever.

Other notable wines you might have seen on your instagram feed include his super fun, colourful pet nat ‘DOPE’, Fruitloops, and even his more rare ‘Sunny Cide Up’, which is a co-ferment of apples and grapes, which if you find you really must try! Claus has even done collaborations with Lambic beer brewer Cantillon…

KalkundKiesel Weiss is another popular white wine, which shows a vibrant, salty and acidic edge for a white. The ErDELuftGRAsundreBEN is an interesting, premium range because the wines come from the EDELGRABEN vineyard, but Claus Preisinger is not allowed to mention this on the labels (due to Austrian wine laws, meaning only approved wines of a conventional style can name the plot), so the original labels highlighted this in secret by capitalising and bolding these letters to spell Edelgraben for those noticing his subtle ways of saying where the high-quality vineyards are based.

Claus Preisinger is a self-confessed ‘Pinot Geek’, and he intends to feature more single vineyard plots of Pinot Noir and push the quality even higher in the future. We highly recommend trying his Pinot Noir, as it will surprise you it is from Burgenland Austria based on the incredible quality and flavour profile, often featuring bright, slightly sour cherries and a vibrant mouthfeel.

Claus farms a wide range of soils on his 19 hectares of land, covering 64 parcels including some special plots on the wine-famous Leitha mountains (Leithaberg). His soils mostly include limestone, known as Kalk /Kalkstein in German but also cover slate, schist and clay.

Claus Preisinger has his love for Pinot Noir as well as Blaufränkisch, which he grows a lot of, but he keeps his offering diverse, also farming Grüner Veltliner, Muscat Ottonel, Zweigelt, St. Laurent, Welschriesling, Pinot Blanc / Weissburgunder, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and more.

Look out for a custom bottling called Frenzy between us at MORE Natural Wine, rappers A.S.M & Claus Preisinger soon…

What is the best Claus Preisinger wine?

Very tough to answer this, but if you want value then Puszta Libre is one of the best value natural wines ever made. However, this is just the start of Claus Preisingers skills, and whilst a great value bottle - its worth trying his exceptional Pinot Noir, Bonsai, KalkUndKiesel Weiss and Bonsai to get a fuller expression of his range of styles.

What grapes does Claus Preisinger have?

Claus farms Pinot Noir, Blaufränkisch, Grüner Veltliner, Muscat Ottonel, Zweigelt, St. Laurent, Welschriesling, Pinot Blanc / Weissburgunder, Cabernet Franc & Syrah

Why can I not find Pusta Libre white in Europe?

This wine was a special wine made for the American market, and like the Pustza Libre Rosé was never released in Europe, only the USA.

What is the name of the collab bottle between Claus Preisinger and A.S.M?

ASM , Claus and MORE Natural Wine have collaborated on a bottle featuring Pinot Noir and Muscat Ottonel, and the wine is called Frenzy - also a track on the new album available via Chinese Man Records.

What natural winemakers are similar to Claus Preisinger?

Winemakers in the same region of Burgenland, who have some wines similar to Claus Preisinger include Judith Beck, Joiseph, Christian Tschida, Koppitsch and Franz Weninger. Of course.. not all wines taste the same but there are similarities, partially as there is a large concentration of natural winemakers in the Burgenland region using the same grapes.