Summary
Weingut Kollwentz-Römerhof in Großhöflein is one of the most decorated addresses in Austria. Across around 25 hectares on the southern slopes of the Leitha Mountains it produces two specialities of equal rank: powerful, spicy reds based on Blaufränkisch – above all the Steinzeiler blend – and tightly woven Chardonnays from the limestone soils of the Gloria, Tatschler and Katterstein sites. The family has lived in Großhöflein since roughly 1775; from the 1960s onwards Anton Kollwentz turned the estate into one of the pioneering houses of modern Austrian viticulture, and his son Andi Kollwentz has carried that work forward with his wife Heidi since the 1990s.
History
The vineyards around Großhöflein are old: sites such as Steinzeiler, Gloria, Tatschler, Dürr and Point already appear in the land registers of the Forchtenstein estate from 1569 and 1570. The Kollwentz family itself has been based in the village since around 1775 – the house name Römerhof points to the long settlement history of the area.
The estate only became a nationally recognised name, however, under Anton Kollwentz (1940–2026). In 1963 he was the first producer outside Rust and Oggau to make an Ausbruch, and in the early 1970s he committed consistently to dry white wines in a Burgenland then dominated by sweet wine. In 1981 he became the first Austrian to plant Cabernet Sauvignon and age it in barrique – a break with every convention of the time. The first vintages, 1983 and 1984, already won Falstaff awards; in 1988 Falstaff named Anton Kollwentz Winemaker of the Year. In 1995 he was among the founders of the Renommierte Weingüter Burgenland (RWB) association, which he chaired for around ten years.
His son Andi Kollwentz, born in 1969, returned to Großhöflein in 1989 after the Klosterneuburg wine school and internships in France, took charge of the cellar in 1993 and has led the estate together with his wife Heidi Kollwentz since 2003.
Location & Terroir
Großhöflein lies at the foot of the Leitha Mountains, the westernmost spur of the Pannonian basin. The vineyards run across slopes facing south and south-east and benefit from a markedly Pannonian climate: hot, dry summers, long hours of sunshine, cool nights thanks to the nearby ridge, and the balancing influence of Lake Neusiedl.
The subsoil is decisive. Leithakalk – a shell-rich limestone sandstone from a primeval sea, quarried in the region as building stone for centuries – provides the basis for the estate's taut, mineral whites. Alongside it are schist and mica-schist soils as well as heavier, loamy parcels that give the Blaufränkisch structure and spice. This small-scale diversity explains why Kollwentz can draw such different wine types from within a few kilometres.
Style & Philosophy
The house signature is uncompromisingly focused on origin and density. Yields are low, harvesting is by hand, and a large part of the wines ferment spontaneously with the vineyard's own yeasts. The reds macerate on the skins for three to four weeks and then mature for around two years in small French oak barrels – powerful, yet never obviously dominated by wood.
For the whites, Kollwentz openly takes white Burgundy as its reference: the Chardonnay is fermented in wood and aged at length on the fine lees, which gives it texture, salinity and ageing potential. The Sauvignon Blanc from the Steinmühle site represents the cooler, herbal-spicy side of the estate. The range is completed by nobly sweet Beeren- and Trockenbeerenauslesen as well as long-aged reserve wines from the estate's own treasury.
Notable Sites & Wines
The vineyards are spread across numerous historic sites around Großhöflein:
- Steinzeiler – namesake of the top red blend of Blaufränkisch with Cabernet Sauvignon and Zweigelt, the estate's flagship since 1986
- Gloria – at around 300 to 325 metres the highest site in northern Burgenland, source of the Chardonnay of the same name
- Tatschler and Katterstein – south-east facing limestone sites, the basis of the two other great Chardonnays
- Point and Setz – the most important Blaufränkisch sites, which also feed into Steinzeiler and Eichkogel
- Neusatz, Dürr, Spiegeln and Steinmühle – the last of these is the estate's Sauvignon Blanc site
- Eichkogel – not a single vineyard but a blend of Blaufränkisch and Zweigelt, joining the berry spice of one with the velvet of the other
Awards
Kollwentz is listed with the top mark of five stars by the leading Austrian wine guides Falstaff and Vinaria; Falstaff's chief critic Peter Moser called Andi Kollwentz the decathlete among Austria's winegrowers. The Chardonnays from Tatschler, Neusatz and Gloria have won the Falstaff Burgundy Trophy several times, the Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 was rated 100 points by Falstaff, and the Chardonnay Gloria 2023 was named Austrian wine of the year by James Suckling. Anton Kollwentz himself received the Vinaria honorary trophy for his life's work in 2007 and the Commander's Cross of the Province of Burgenland in 2021.