In 1330, a major fire broke out that destroyed half the town. The extinguishing water slowly ran out and the monks began to carry buckets of mass wine to the altar and finally extinguished the fire. When the Turks approached in 1683 during the 2nd Turkish siege, 6,000 buckets of wine (around 360,000 litres) were taken from the monastery cellar to safety in Bavaria. From 24 August, 13,000 Turks under Kara Mustapha (~1630-1683) besieged the city. Canon Wilhelm Lebsaft began to serve wine to the defenders. Motivated and strengthened by this, they managed to repel the attack.
High attendance
Due to the rigorous church reforms under the Habsburg Emperor Joseph II (1741-1790), Pope Pius VI (1717-1799) travelled to Vienna in 1782 to negotiate with the Emperor about the withdrawal of these measures. On his way, he also visited Klosterneuburg Abbey on 20 April and it is reported that the wine served was to his liking.
Emperor Napoleon (1769-1821) stayed at the abbey twice. On 2 December 1805, he defeated the Austrian and Russian troops at the Battle of Austerlitz. The French then moved into Klosterneuburg. On 20 December, Napoleon visited the wine cellar; he was served an "old Austrian". He praised it, saying that it was "not dissimilar to Rhine wine ". In 1809, Napoleon occupied Vienna for the second time and moved back into Klosterneuburg beforehand. His soldiers plundered exactly 8,241 buckets of the best wine from the abbey cellar.
They also tapped into the famous "thousand-bucket barrel", which had been used to hold the tithe wine since 1711, got drunk for days and drained the rest. After that, the barrel was never filled again, but only used for barrel-sliding. At that time, the monastery in Klosterneuburg cultivated 200 hectares of vineyards. Today, there are "only" around 100. This is mainly due to phylloxera, which struck relatively late in Klosterneuburg at the end of the 19th century and destroyed many vineyards. At that time, most of the wine was made from the Austrian white variety (still cultivated today).
Winery
Today's winery, Stift Klosterneuburg, is owned by the Augustinian canons with the Abbey Provost Prelate Bernhard Backovsky as the largest private vineyard owner in Austria. The business is run by managing director Dr Wolfgang Hamm, who is supported by cellar master Günther Gottfried and vineyard manager Johannes Steurer. The vineyards cover 108 hectares of vines in the municipalities of Klosterneuburg(Franzhauser, Steinriegel, Hengstberg, Ziegelgrub), Vienna in the vineyards of the two large vineyards Kahlenberg and Nußberg, Gumpoldskirchen (Hofpoint, Wiegen) and Tattendorf(Stiftsbreite in sole ownership with 40 ha of St. Laurent). They are thus spread across the three wine-growing regions Thermenregion, Wagram and Vienna scattered across the three wine-growing regions.
The red wine varieties St. Laurent, Zweigelt,Pinot Noir, Blaufränkisch, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, as well as the white wine varieties Grüner Veltliner, Riesling, Chardonnay,Pinot Blanc, Traminer, Rotgipfler, Sauvignon Blanc, Zierfandler, Neuburger and Welschriesling are cultivated. A special vineyard programme was developed in order to respond to the different site typicity and achieve even higher quality. It consists of many targeted measures for soil vitalisation (cover crop, return of pomace), individual foliage care to increase biodiversity (variety of species), as well as the research and preservation of old vine material. Stift Klosterneuburg is the first winery to produce on a carbon-neutral basis and is therefore considered a pioneer in climate protection.
Vinification
Vinification takes place in the four-storey vaulted cellar built under Emperor Charles VI (1685-1740), 36 metres below the abbey square and with walls up to seven metres thick. It is precisely matched to the respective variety. Using computer-controlled fermentation, the white wines are fermented slowly and cool to emphasise the varietal aromas and freshness. The red wines are fermented slightly warmer to achieve optimum extraction. The product range comprises the four lines "Lagenweine" (storable varietal wines and cuvées from top vineyards in various wine-growing regions, with a vine tendril on the label), "Klassikweine"(fruit-accentuated, varietal wines from a single vineyard, with the abbey's coat of arms on the label), "Pastellweine" (fruit-accentuated, regional and varietal wines, only available in food retail outlets) and "Vom Schotter" (from barren limestone gravel soils and Danube gravel). The monastery wines are sealed with screw caps, the white single vineyards with glass caps and the red single vineyards with natural corks.
Product range
The absolute flagship is "St. Laurent Ausstich" from the Stiftsbreite vineyard in Tattendorf (Thermenregion), which is selected from the best barrels of a vintage. After a three-week maceration period, this long-lasting red wine is matured for 18 months in large wooden barrels and bottled in 0.25 litre bottles, 0.75 litre standard bottles and large bottles (magnum 1.5 litre, Jeroboam 3 litre, Salmanazar 9 litre, Balthazar 12 litre). Depending on the weather conditions, other specialities include Trockenbeerenauslese and ice wines as well as DAC white wines from Vienna Gemischter Satz. Fine brandies (marc, fruit, wine), bottle-fermented sparkling wines, grape juice, wine jelly (from different grape varieties), grape seed oil and vinegar are also produced.
