Summary
Tement winery in Berghausen is one of the best-known and most influential estates in Austria and an international benchmark for Sauvignon Blanc from Southern Styria. Across around 80 hectares it produces precise, mineral white wines whose flagship is the Sauvignon Blanc from the grand cru site Ried Zieregg – for many one of the finest white-wine vineyards in the country. Manfred Tement shaped the estate over decades and made it world-famous; today his sons Armin and Stefan Tement continue to run it as a family winery and farm the vines biodynamically.
History
The estate's roots reach back to the 1950s, when Josef Tement planted Ried Grassnitzberg – the first vineyard in family ownership. As an independent winery, the business was founded in 1962. Its decisive rise, however, is owed to Manfred Tement, who took over the estate in 1979 and steered it consistently towards the highest quality.
Manfred Tement recognised early on the exceptional potential of the Zieregg site and built the estate's reputation above all on Sauvignon Blanc. As early as 1991, the magazine "Der Feinschmecker" crowned the Sauvignon Blanc from Zieregg the world's finest of its kind – a milestone that made Tement known well beyond Austria's borders. With the arrival of son Armin and later Stefan (2010), the estate grew into one of the most influential family wineries in Austria. Today the responsibility for vineyard and cellar lies mainly in the hands of the two brothers.
Location & Terroir
Tement lies in Berghausen, a district of Ehrenhausen an der Weinstraße, in the heart of Southern Styria right on the border with Slovenia. The region is shaped by steep slopes, a cool, often humid climate with strong day-night temperature swings and an extraordinary geological diversity – ideal conditions for aromatic, fresh white wines with clear structure.
At its heart lies Ried Zieregg, whose limestone-rich soils with fossilised shells give the wines an unmistakable minerality and great ageing potential. Part of this site crosses the border into Slovenia, where Tement farms around 20 hectares under Domaine Ciringa. The somewhat younger vines and the slightly higher humus content give these wines a character of their own. For several years the estate has worked biodynamically; it is a member of the Respekt group and has been Demeter-certified since 2022.
Style & Philosophy
The Tement style stands for precision and terroir. The aim is to capture the character of each individual vineyard as faithfully as possible in the bottle. Depending on origin and ambition, the wines are aged in stainless steel as well as large and small oak barrels, with the finest single-vineyard wines often undergoing spontaneous fermentation and long lees contact. The result is complex, taut white wines with pronounced minerality, fine texture and the ability to age for many years.
Above all stands the Sauvignon Blanc, which Tement interprets across different tiers – from the accessible regional wine to the great Zieregg. The range is rounded out by Morillon (Chardonnay), Welschriesling and Muscat, all carrying the same signature of clarity and fidelity to origin.
Notable Vineyards & Wines
The range is clearly tiered: from fresh regional and village wines through the Erste STK sites to the Große STK sites, the estate's absolute top wines. Among the most important vineyards and wines are:
- Ried Zieregg – the estate's most famous site and the benchmark for Austrian Sauvignon Blanc
- Ried Grassnitzberg – the family's historic first vineyard, planted since the 1950s
- Zieregg "Grande Cuvée" and the single-vineyard Sauvignons as the heart of the collection
- Domaine Ciringa – the Slovenian wines beyond the border in Zieregg
- Varietally typical Morillon, Welschriesling and Muscat wines
These wines regularly rank among the highest-rated white wines in Austria.
Awards
Since the international breakthrough with the Zieregg Sauvignon Blanc in 1991, Tement has consistently gathered top ratings in the leading wine guides and international tastings. The estate is regarded as one of the flagships of Southern Styria and has contributed decisively to the fact that Austrian Sauvignon Blanc is now recognised worldwide as a reference in its own right.