The Taste of Life

A dream tasting with all five of Styria’s natural wine pioneers

I’m back home after three weeks on the road. Read about my adventures in Austria and Herzegovina. As of next Wednesday I should be back on track with my regular schedule.

Our group of eight wine professionals and four winemakers sit around a table in Sepp and Maria Muster’s apple orchard, enjoying the shade on a blistering hot August afternoon. We’re ten wines into what is already an epic tasting when it happens.

Sepp Muster pours the absent Andreas Tscheppe’s Blaue Libelle 2021. As each of us takes their first sip, the sound of breath being taken away ripples around the table. I make eye contact with a colleague sat opposite me. We mutually and non-verbally confirm that the wine is mind-blowing. Even the zen-like Muster seems momentarily floored. “It is very good” he smiles with a respectful nod.

Days later, our group is still talking about Blaue Libelle, and the tasting in general. What is it about these growers and their wines?