55. Wine, Terrain, and Tradition: Inside Kolfok Winery with Stefan Wellanschitz

Send us Fan MailBehind the Scenes with Kolfok: Stefan Wellanschitz on Natural Winemaking in Austria’s Mittelburgenland regionJoin us for a behind-the-scenes, technical conversation with Stefan Wellanschitz of Kolfok, a self-proclaimed natural winemaker from the Mittelburgenland region of Austria. In this episode, Stefan describes his family’s multigenerational roots, the region’s climatic influences and highly varied soils and topography. He explains low-intervention practices including spontaneous ferments, minimal SO2 usage, reductive handling, gravity movement, lees and managing risks like Brett, pH, and residual sugar. Stefan also discusses his approach to managing climate change impacts via yields, cover crops, dry farming, and climate-change-driven variety and site choices.Kolfok is a 15-hectare “winery within a winery,” producing about 12 wines and 60,000 bottles, including several single-vineyard bottlings. EPISODE CHAPTERS:00:00 : Introduction and Welcome01:57: An Introduction to Kolfok05:56: The Wine Portfolio09:03: Stefan's Natural Winemaking Philosophy15:51: Yeast, Fermentation and Other Winemaking Ideas25:46: Cellar & Terroir33:00: Managing Through Climate ChangeLet’s stay in touch - we always love to hear from you!  Follow the wine related antics and fun on the following social channels:Blog: www.wineitupanotch.comThe Wineitupanotch Podcast on InstagramWineitupanotch on InstagramWineitupanotch on TiktokWineitupanotch on Youtube Or send an email with questions, comments and requests to [email protected]