When a former Airbus engineer builds what is probably the most powerful tree press in the world, the result is wines that thrill the wine world. The HM Lang estate in Stein an der Donau shows what happens when technical precision meets 80-year-old vines. Markus Lang presses his Demeter-certified Rieslings and Grüner Veltliners in a bomb-proof tunnel deep within the gneiss. With up to 100 tonnes of pressing pressure and days of pressing under the open sky, wines of extraordinary density and minerality are created – at just 9.5 to 12% alcohol. His aim is fresh wines that convince with length and structure.
More about HM Lang
From aircraft engineering to a legendary tree press
Markus Lang’s career path could hardly have been more unusual. For 25 years, the Viennese engineer designed aircraft for Airbus and the US Air Force, before inheriting a neglected vineyard 15 years ago. Rather than relying on conventional cellar technology, he developed a tree press capable of exerting up to 100 tonnes of pressure – so powerful that even Willi Bründlmayer wanted to press his grapes on it. The pressing process, which takes several days under the open sky, achieves a juice yield of 80% instead of the usual 68–72%. Today he cultivates 3.5 hectares in the Steiner Schreck, Braunsdorfer and Lemberg vineyard sites, where vines aged between 80 and 100 years grow. Like its neighbour Nikolaihof, HM Lang consistently follows the Demeter philosophy and is regarded as a pioneer of biodynamic viticulture along the Danube.
Vinification in a bomb-proof tunnel at 9°C
Deep within the mountain’s gneiss lies Lang’s extraordinary cellar: a bomb-proof tunnel dating from the Second World War with a constant temperature of 9°C. Here the wines mature for two to three years on their gross lees, with a proportion of whole berries, in wooden casks and stoneware amphorae. Lang does not harvest according to sugar levels, but rather when the pH value reaches around 3.0, for Riesling just as for Grüner Veltliner. The foliage walls reaching up to 2.8 metres in height and spontaneous fermentation produce wines with only 9.5 to 12% alcohol, yet exceptional minerality. Among his finest wines are the Riesling Hartstein 2022 and the Fuchs & Dachs 2021 from the Braunsdorfer vineyard site.
Poetic wine names with technical precision
Lang’s wine names tell stories: “Fuchs & Dachs” pays tribute to the animals in the vineyard, while “This is not a love song” 2021 stands for the Riesling fermented in stoneware amphorae. The name “Kalt und Klar” aptly describes the water of the nearby Danube – and the character of these unfiltered wines. “Dritter Akt” refers to the three-year ageing that all wines undergo at HM Lang. With only 12,000 bottles annually and minimal sulphur, wines of extraordinary precision and ageing potential are created. The combination of engineering precision and biodynamic philosophy makes HM Lang one of the most exciting producers in the Kremstal.