VINI JUDITH BECK

Matthias and Christine Beck founded the estate in Gols in 1976, but Judith went out and saw the world before taking it on. She came through the Klosterneuburg viticulture college and then worked harvests at three places with nothing in common except quality: Château Cos d’Estournel in Bordeaux, Braida in Piedmont and Errazuriz in Chile.

Her first vintage back in Gols was 2001. By 2004 she had the estate, and in 2007 she began converting all 20 hectares to holistic farming, working with the late Dr Andrew Lorand. The conviction was simple enough: the healthier the soil, the less the wine needs doing to it. The additions stopped being necessary.

Gols sits on the eastern, warmest side of Lake Neusiedl in Burgenland, the first Austrian region to pick every autumn. Warm Pannonian air rolls in off the Hungarian plains and cool Alpine air comes back the other way, which gives a long gentle season and keeps the acidity where you want it. Loam and clay on the lower plots, limestone up on the ridges.

The way in is Beck Ink, a St. Laurent and Zweigelt blend fermented in steel on its own yeasts and bottled with no sulphur added. Plum, black cherry and a floral lift. It is a proper natural wine with nothing intimidating about it, and it is one of the best value bottles on this site.

Around it sit Hunny Bunny (Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch, serve it cold), the straight Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch, Out, Cherry Bomb and Koreaa, a skin contact field blend that pulls in Grüner Veltliner, Welschriesling, Muskat-Ottonel, Scheurebe and Weißburgunder. The Traminer is the aromatic orange one and the Hauswein is the house pour.

Then there is Bambule!, which is German slang for rowdy, and the name is earned. The range runs across Chardonnay, Weißburgunder, Blaufränkisch, Zweigelt, St. Laurent, Furmint, Muskat, Pinot Noir and two pét nats, the M Bambule! and the rosado P Bambule!. All bottled with no sulphur added, all pushed a bit further than the core range.

Judith is a member of Pannobile, the Gols growers’ association founded in 1994, alongside Gut Oggau, Claus Preisinger, Meinklang and Koppitsch. Something about this corner of Burgenland.

Holistic farming since 2007, first certified vintage in 2010. No synthetic treatments, no herbicides, and a calendar that follows the lunar cycle, the same framework used up the road at Gut Oggau and Claus Preisinger.

In the cellar it is native yeasts only, with no inoculation at any point. The reds get no pump-overs and no punch-downs during fermentation, so extraction stays light and the tannins come out fresh rather than chewy. The whites often take a few days to a few weeks on skins, which gives them enough structure to stand up without leaning on sulphur.

Fermentation runs across steel tanks, open vats and old oak, some of it third generation and still working. The Bambule! wines are bottled with nothing added. The rest see either nothing or very little.

The grapes she cares most about are St. Laurent, Pinot Noir and Blaufränkisch for the reds, with Weißburgunder, Traminer, Chardonnay and Muskat-Ottonel among the whites. They all work absurdly well in this warm lakeside corner of Austria.

Where is Judith Beck based?

Gols, a village on the eastern and warmest side of Lake Neusiedl in the Neusiedlersee area of Burgenland, Austria. She farms around 20 hectares there with her partner Uli Leitner. It is the same village as Claus Preisinger.

What is the Bambule! range?

Judith Beck’s wilder line. Bambule is German slang for rowdy, and the range pushes further than the core wines: Chardonnay, Weißburgunder, Blaufränkisch, Zweigelt, St. Laurent, Furmint, Muskat, Pinot Noir and two pét nats. All bottled with no sulphur added.

Do Judith Beck wines contain sulphites?

The Bambule! range has no sulphur added at any stage. The rest of the range sees either none or a very small amount. Small amounts of sulphites occur naturally in all wine as a by-product of fermentation, so nothing is ever truly sulphite-free.

What is Pannobile?

A growers’ association founded in Gols in 1994 to set a quality standard for wines from the village. Judith Beck, Claus Preisinger, Gut Oggau, Meinklang and Koppitsch are all members, which is most of the reason Gols comes up so often in natural wine.

Which Judith Beck wine should I start with?

Beck Ink. St. Laurent and Zweigelt, no sulphur added, juicy and very easy to like. Hunny Bunny is the other obvious one, served cold. If you want the orange, go for the Traminer, and the P Bambule! pét nat rosado is the party bottle.

Is Judith Beck good for someone new to natural wine?

Yes, probably more than almost anyone we stock. The wines are clean, fruity and affordable without being dumbed down, which is why they sit at the centre of our Fun range.