Gut Oggau
Lore is more than our products or the process of making them. We believe in a way of living that exists in a circular balance with our environment and our community. In Lore Dialogues, we meet people and projects that inspire us.
Gut Oggau is a biodynamic winery in Austria, run by Stephanie and Eduard Scheppe. Their work reflects many of the values we believe in. We had the pleasure of speaking to them about their approach and visiting their winery and family in Burgenland.
What inspired you at the time to take the step toward biodynamic farming?
Back when we started in 2007 Biodynamics was not common at all in viticulture. There were hardly any role models to follow. What certainly drove us into this direction at first was the grown up vineyards which we started to work with. Vineyards that have been in a poor shape, vineyards that we wanted to revive and revitalise. Biodynamics is by far the most sensitive and holistic approach to farming, so it felt right to go down this road from the start.
What does it mean to you to work with something living — something that has its own rhythm, character, and will?
For us working with something living is a gift, but also an obligation. We feel responsibility not only for us, but literally for every creature out there. Because each and every single one, microorganism, insects, plants, fungi, animals, humans, contributes to a healthy surrounding. Everything is connected. Forever mankind has been embedded in those eternal natural rhythms, it is only a few generations ago we have managed to disconnect from those through modernity and technique. But we feel how important it is to reconnect for the sake of inner wellbeing.
You describe yourselves not only as agriculturalists but also as cultural practitioners. When did you realize that your work extends beyond wine?
This we realized quite soon after we jumped into our holistic approach. As the term Agriculture suggests, working a land is a cultural activity, it involves us humans, creativity, flexibility, and in the best sense intuition. Our mission is to revitalise the soil and the plants, to shape landscapes and to heal, cure and balance out. We go far beyond just caring about what the end produce, our wine family, tastes like. We care about the sanity of our pieces of land, a sanity, which will in the end lead to the best, most expressive, unique produce anyways.
Horses are a visible part of your work. How does the process of working the land change when animals are actively involved?
Animals in general are such a crucial part in any healthy natural circle. A piece of land without the interaction with animals is a poor one. Don't you think as well that bread from a field where birds are singing will make you feel better than from a field where there is no animals left? Horses especially have a particular connection to humans. They have coworked with us and served us for centuries. Human progress would not be where it is without the help of horses for millennia. In farmlands they can contribute with their sensitive forward driven energy. Ever since we have integrated them in our farm, there is so much more life and vitality both visibly in the vineyards as tastable in the wines.
What role do people and animals play in shaping the character and identity of Gut Oggau?
As already mentioned, every creature plays a crucial role. In a healthy holistic farm, all these function like organs, playing together in harmony like in an orchestra.
Your work begins in the soil, while Lore begins with the animal. What can a material tell you about the place it comes from?
Every creature is rooted to a certain place, a birth place or a place of origin. Plants literally root in the soil, whereas animals and humans roam freely between the realms, but still there is a certain sense of place in all of us. The soil, the landscape, the climate shape us in so many ways, obviously and subtly. Once a plant is uprooted it withers and dies, once an animal or human is, it can be confused and lost as well. The tragedy of our modern societies in many ways is a story of global uprooting.
At what point does the personality of a wine begin to take shape for you?
The personality of a wine is the expression of a unique sense of place combined with a unique sense of time. This personality is shaped by the terroir, it expresses itself again and again every vintage.
What responsibility do people carry when working with land, animals, and raw materials?
We personally feel the responsibility to save resources, treat everything with care and respect and feel a certain humbleness and respect when using what nature gifts us with. Originally working with land, animals and raw materials meant to build up resources rather than wasting them, an approach which has become lost due to industrialization. Any handcrafted artisanal approach should be a step back into the sensitive resource saving idea of give and take.
What does it mean to you to create something lasting?
A lasting memory, a lasting inspiration, a lasting impulse for making a change, this is what we push towards, this is what we are pulled towards. A moment can last forever in your mind in case this moment enchants you, our wine family is an invitation to get reenchanted again.
