Summary
Weingut Türk in Stratzing near Krems is one of the most dependable addresses for Grüner Veltliner in Austria. Across roughly 19 to 20 hectares in the Kremstal, the estate makes wines that tell one story above all: the story of the soil. Türk works consistently with the contrast between two soil worlds – deep, generous loess on one side and lean primary rock on the other. The result is two very different Veltliner signatures from a single estate. The Türk family has farmed here since 1836, is a member of the Austrian Traditional Wine Estates (ÖTW), and has moved the entire range to certified organic production from the 2025 vintage.
History
The roots of the estate reach far back: according to the family, its winegrowing tradition begins in the early 18th century, while the estate in its present form has existed since 1836. Across the generations it has remained exactly what it still is today – a manageable family business in the small wine village of Stratzing, a few kilometres north of Krems.
The leap to the Austrian top tier came under Franz Türk, who runs the estate together with Margit Türk and has focused uncompromisingly on Grüner Veltliner. Türk has twice won the Falstaff Grüner Veltliner Grand Prix – among them in 2014 – which made the estate known well beyond its region overnight. Since 2016 there has also been a dedicated Grüner Veltliner edition made in collaboration with the celebrated chef Eckart Witzigmann.
The most recent major step concerns work in the vineyard: from the 2025 vintage all wines are certified organic. For Türk this is less a marketing promise than the logical continuation of an approach that has always relied on living soils and low yields.
Location & Terroir
Stratzing sits on a plateau north of Krems, right where the Kremstal gives way to the cooler Waldviertel. That borderline position shapes the wines. By day, the Pannonian influence from the east brings warmth and fully ripe fruit; by night, cool air drops down from the Waldviertel. These pronounced day-night swings preserve acidity, freshness and aroma – the foundation for slender, clearly drawn white wines.
Even more decisive is the soil. The Kremstal is geologically split in two, and Türk farms both sides:
- Loess: deep, water-retaining and warm. It produces the Grüner Veltliner people associate with the Kremstal – spicy, creamy, with yellow-fruited breadth and the classic peppery note.
- Primary rock: weathered gneiss and conglomerate, lean and stony. Here the vines root deeply, yields are low, and the wines turn tauter, cooler, saline-mineral and considerably longer-lived.
This dual nature is the thread running through the whole range – right down to the wine called “Kremstal DAC Krems vom Urgestein”, which carries the lean soil in its very name.
Style & Philosophy
Türk works in a craft-driven, restrained way. The white wines are mostly fermented in stainless steel and rest there for months on the fine lees – which gives texture and volume without covering up the fruit. Oak plays only a supporting role and is used above all for Chardonnay. The goal is not the one spectacular bottle, but a range in which every wine honestly reflects where it comes from.
The presentation is striking too. The estate uses a consistent colour code on its labels so that variety and quality level can be told apart at a glance – gold, silver and bronze mark the higher selections. According to the estate, Türk was also the first winery in the world to label the base of its bottles as well.
Notable Sites & Wines
The range follows the three-tier logic of Kremstal DAC: fresh, uncomplicated regional wines as the base, village wines above them, and single-vineyard wines from classified sites at the top. Among the estate's best-known sites are:
- Ried Frechau – a classified Erste Lage of the ÖTW and one of the estate's calling cards
- Ried Sandgrube – a Krems classic on loess, spicy and full
- Ried Thurnerberg – stony and taut, the source of dense reserves
- Ried Wachtberg – one of the most prominent sites around Krems
- Weinzierlberg – another well-known origin in the countryside around Krems
Among the best-known wines are the Grüner Veltliner Kremstal DAC Krems vom Urgestein, the Veltliner from the “Kremser Weinberge”, and the Edition Witzigmann. Riesling, Gelber Muskateller, Chardonnay, a little Zweigelt and – in suitable years – rare sweet wines up to Eiswein complete the programme.
Awards
The estate's most important title is its two-time win at the Falstaff Grüner Veltliner Grand Prix, including in the 2014 vintage – a remarkable result for an estate of this size in a field of hundreds of competitors. Beyond that, the wines perform consistently well: Austrian wine guides as well as international critics such as Vinous and Wine Enthusiast regularly rate the estate's single-vineyard and sweet wines highly. Within the ÖTW, Türk today counts as one of the most reliable addresses in the Kremstal – and as the estate where the difference between loess and primary rock can be tasted particularly clearly.