It is a real pleasure to announce Weingut Wimmer-Czerny as Mayfly Wine’s first agency! I met Hans Czerny when I was party to an impromptu Mangalitza pig reconnaissance mission to Austria a few years ago. We were staying with his dear friends and pig aficionados Christoph and Isabel Wiesner, and I was told I had to try his wines – a proposal that took no arm twisting. The excitement of visiting a new wine region is enough to keep me entertained, but when we arrived in the sleepy town of Fels am Wagram we were greeted at door by Hans, who was wearing full dungarees and a huge cheerful grin that was infectious. After a gentle mauling by his gigantic dog ‘Odin’ we muscled our way into the kitchen and embarked on one of my most memorable “tastings”.

Hans and Astrid Czerny are incredibly hospitable and absolutely lovely, and five hours later, we too were all grinning. The table had been bombarded with bottle after bottle of beautiful Wagram nectar, and mountains of cured meats and homemade schmaltz. The jamboree continued and I knew I was completely smitten by these wines, just blown away by a purity you only experience with the greats like Nikolaihof and Joh Jos Prum.  

Wimmer-Czerny is certified Demeter and is farmed organically and bio-dynamically. Hans is totally obsessed with the unique soils (Loess, Gneiss) and the single vineyard sites in Wagram, each one lending an individual and fascinating character to the grapes. He is fanatical about the geological history and ecology of the region, and farms livestock to enhance the land and cultivate his compost, which, when explained on a visit earlier this year, pretty much sounds like it has magical properties…Hans’ sheer dedication, knowledge, craftsmanship, and attention to the natural environment sing through in his spectacular set of wines. Prost!