One, Dominik Gober, is what you might describe as a youthful, original Horitschoner. The other, sommelier Gerald Freinbichler as “Soizbuga Bua” comes from the catering industry. Together they produce wines with fine, authentic styles at the highest level in Central Burgenland.
The two “wine guys” started their careers as “garage winemakers” almost a decade ago. What started with 1.5 hectares has now grown to almost 11 hectares, with another 7 hectares to be added in the medium term. At the time, the garage size of just 90m² was enough to get their project off the ground. Namely to produce predominantly Blaufränkisch, which is anything but mainstream – jammy and covered in wood. Wines that are characterized by the terroir and have an authentic effect on the consumer’s palate without any frills. And this had an effect on many wine lovers and sustained growth was achieved. It soon became clear that life as a garage winemaker was over. The increased demand led to the acquisition of additional space. It was said goodbye to the garage in 2021, the extensive expansion began and today we have a beautiful – not only – winery, which is also equipped with apartments, a lounge and an optimal tasting room. The trend of spending time at the winemaker’s is also taken into account, as camper parking spaces have been set up.
Organic farming, manual work in the vineyards and hand-picking are a given. In the cellar, the wine is given the time and rest it needs for optimal development. Cellar technical tricks are a horror for motivated winemakers. So what we stand for in Central Burgenland comes into the bottle. The wines from local origins already confirm this. The Neckenmarkt red wines are characterized by the local soil diversity such as slate, gneiss, the heavy clay soils (Blaufränkisch variety) and shell limestone (Ried Hussi). The Horitschon top locations Ried Dürrau and Ried Kirchholz provide the basis for the flagship wines from Gober & Freinbichler. Wines with complex depth, spicy fruit and an unmistakable minerality. Light-footed, full of finesse and well structured. Wine lovers should therefore always have these two on their radar screen!
Hans Stoll
