Honours come full circle for winemaker Dorli Muhr

The award is a special one for Dorli Muhr because it is the first she has received in Austria despite chalking up many international accolades since she vinified her first vintage on the Spitzerberg in 2002.

In 2019, she was honoured as "Wine Hero of the Year" in the Netherlands by Perswijn magazine. In 2020, Wine Spectator awarded her the highest score ever given to an Austrian red wine in its magazine, which has been published since the 1970s. Robert Parker Wine Advocate has also praised her wines, as have Sweden's Livets Goda, Japan's Vinotheque magazine and many others around the world.

Muhr vinified her first Blaufränkisch from the Spitzerberg 21 years ago: 500 bottles from the Obere Roterd vineyard where her grandmother Katharina Muhr owned a small plot with 0.17 hectares of vines as early as the 1920s. Over the last two decades, the winery has grown bit by bit, as Muhr managed to acquire more and more plots with old vines - which are particularly dear to her heart.

Over the years, she has gained an ever deeper understanding of the barren limestone slope. "With every vintage, the mountain challenges us to delve deeper and deeper into the complexity of the terroir," says Muhr, and thanks her cellar master Lukas Brandstätter for the sensitivity with which he vinifies the irresistible single-vineyard wines.

Particular care is taken both in the vineyards and the cellar. From soft pruning and organic farming methods to handling the grapes and stems by hand (not to mention the time-honoured tradition of foot-stomping grapes), the gentlest methods are used to guarantee the vines a long life and thus allow the wines to best express their special origin.