Summary
Weinkellerei Lenz Moser in Rohrendorf near Krems is one of Austria's best-known wine addresses – and one of its most influential. Its name stands for two things: widely available Austrian quality wines from Lower Austria and Burgenland, and an invention that fundamentally changed European viticulture. From 1928 onwards, Prof. Lenz Moser III developed the so-called Hochkultur ("high culture") in Rohrendorf: a training system with a high trunk and wide rows that made vineyard work mechanisable. Today by far the greater part of Austria's vineyard area is worked on this principle. The company itself works with around 3,000 contract growers and additionally farms two castle estates of its own.
History
The starting point is the year 1849: Anton Moser bought a cellar plot and ten small vineyard parcels totalling roughly 1.4 hectares from Melk Abbey. The cellar in Rohrendorf, which today forms the heart of the business, is far older as a winegrowing site – the first documentary references reach back to around 1040.
The defining figure was the third generation. Prof. Lenz Moser III (1905–1978) took over the business in 1929, founded his own winegrowing school and had already begun trials on a new training system in 1928. From 1935 he planted larger areas according to this method, which transformed Austrian viticulture in the 1950s. In recognition of his services he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, in 1970; in 1975 Federal President Rudolf Kirchschläger awarded him the title of Professor.
Commercially, the house grew into the country's largest winery in the second half of the 20th century. In 1955 Alter Knabe arrived as one of the first major Austrian branded wines. In 1969 Lenz Moser leased the vineyards of the Order of Malta in Mailberg, and in 1988 the company took over the running of Klosterkeller Siegendorf. In 1986 the winery was acquired by the Upper Austrian VOG AG, which holds it to this day. In 2004 Lenz Moser became the first Austrian wine business with IFS Food certification.
Location & Terroir
The company's home in Rohrendorf lies east of Krems on the Danube, where the Kremstal gives way to the flatter country towards the Wagram. Loess and loam soils over crystalline bedrock dominate here – conditions that suit Grüner Veltliner: spicy, juicy, with its typical peppery note.
The estate's own vineyards, however, lie elsewhere. The Order of Malta castle estate in Mailberg in the Weinviertel, around 70 kilometres north-west of Vienna, covers about 50 hectares in a sheltered basin; the parcels are spread across twelve named sites including Antlasberg, Hochlüssen, Rosenpoint, Zeiselberg and Zuckerschlee. Those soils produce expressive white wines and powerful, barrique-aged reds. Klosterkeller Siegendorf, south of Vienna in Burgenland, farms around 24 hectares on a south-south-westerly slope – the warmer conditions on the edge of the Leithaberg hills and within the influence of Lake Neusiedl favour ripe red wines there.
Style & Philosophy
Lenz Moser operates on a scale that calls for different answers than a small family estate. Most of the grapes come from long-standing contract growers and cooperatives; in the cellar they become clearly defined, reliable wine styles. The whites are usually dry, cool-fermented and built for fruit and drinkability, while the reds range from fruit-forward Zweigelt types to denser barrique cuvées from Mailberg.
Notable is the company's role as a trendsetter in retail: with Alter Knabe (1955), the Selection line (1982), the Servus brand, the rosé wines around Fête Rosé (2009) and lower-alcohol wines with under 12% ABV, Lenz Moser has repeatedly established segments that barely existed in Austria before. The premium tier is formed by the Carpe Diem and Prestige lines together with the wines of the two castle estates.
Notable Sites & Wines
The range is clearly tiered – from branded wines for the broad market to single-site wines from its own vineyards. The best known include:
- Kommende Mailberg – the flagship cuvée of the Order of Malta castle estate
- Malteser Ritterorden Merlot and the barrique-aged reds from Mailberg
- Klosterkeller Siegendorf – whites and reds from Burgenland, among them the white wine O'Dora
- Carpe Diem and Prestige – the house's premium lines
- Alter Knabe, Selection, Servus and Storch – the classic brands
In terms of varieties, Grüner Veltliner and Riesling carry the whites, Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch the reds. Remarkably, Lenz Moser recognised Zweigelt's potential early and planted the variety in Mailberg as far back as 1973.
Awards
As the market leader in Austrian quality wine, Lenz Moser is a regular presence at national and international competitions. The Malteser Ritterorden Merlot 2016 was named the winner in the game and goose wine category at the ÖGZ tasting, and the Klosterkeller Siegendorf O'Dora 2021 won a gold medal at the China Wine Competition. The greater part of the house's impact, though, lies not in medals but in the history of viticulture: hardly any other Austrian address has shaped the way vines are trained in the country as deeply as Lenz Moser.