Terroir
South Styria
There are areas that are simply magical, like a fairytale. A bit enchanted, almost as if from another world. This is true of South Styria, which literally grounds you with its gentle rolling hills, forested peaks and fertile vineyards. There is something almost meditative about the peace and tranquillity that this vineyard-green landscape exudes. You can feel a deep sense of happiness and pure, inner peace.
Kreuzberg
Especially the area around the 633 metre high Kreuzberg, with its Mediterranean-Illyrian climate, long warm summer days and cool nights, reinforces the impression of being in a historically grown place of power. The Illyrians, Celts and later the Romans cultivated their vines here.
Even today, South Styria, the ‘Styrian Tuscany’, as it is often called, is a piece of intact nature and above all: a landscape of pleasure, with numerous superior restaurants and rustic ‘Buschenschänken’. A hidden paradise from a seemingly bygone era – in the here and now. A place for the senses. A home for gourmets and wine lovers.
It is precisely here, in this great white wine region, which lies roughly on the same latitude as the growing regions of Montrachet, Chablis, Sancerre or South Tyrol, where the hidden champion Thomas Rothschädl creates SIGNUM BLANC. Each sip tells the story of its origin and provenance. Ripe, elegant wines with delicate fruit, balanced acidity and a mineral note on the finish. The result of an ingenious terroir and a congenial winemaker.
Summer at the Kreuzberg
Tourmaline
Latest find 15.05.2021
Replanting in the vineyard
Kreuzberg / Leutschach
Tourmaline
SIGNUM BLANC grows on rocky soil rich in tourmaline, a unique terroir on the Kreuzberg in southern Styria.
Black tourmaline is present in the loose metamorphic rock where the vines root deeply into the rock and penetrate into the finest crevices, a 2019 soil analysis confirmed. Here, the tourmaline comes to the surface and at the same time permeates the deep layers of rock.
This precious stone, which has been resting in the soil of the Kreuzberg under the vines for millions of years, is a true treasure. Black tourmaline is mysterious and magically beautiful, but it is also one thing: energetically valuable.
The power, energy and minerality of the black gemstone is absorbed by the fine deep roots of the vines, which wander persistently through the rocky, humus-poor soil in search of nutrients and minerals. It is precisely this power, energy and minerality that passes through the roots into the hand-picked grapes and is later intensified by the long maturation of the wine in the cellar.
The aromas are more condensed, more concentrated, which results in a very characterful wine. – “‘precious stone, precious wine!””
Signum Blanc has “Vinergie”.
And you can feel it, sip by sip.
Geographical location and climate
The Illyrian climate of South Styria is an alpine adriatic climate and prevails in Austria’s southeast and in parts of Slovenia. Protected by the alpine barrier, summers there are still as you remember them as a child: warm, sunny and endless. These summers are very slow to transition into a golden autumn. Warm days, cool nights in early summer, an average of over 20 degrees ensure that the vines can develop optimal fruit.
Illyrian climate brings more humidity than a Mediterranean climate. During the growing season, the vine loves the showers and thunderstorms that the Adriatic occasionally sends up. Sometimes during summer, the vine in South Styria also enjoys a Pannonian climate, dry and with little precipitation. The grapes dry and stretch towards the sun.
The Illyrian climate is a god-given climate, varied and unpredictable. In this respect, it is a tradition among Styrian vintners to maintain a good relationship with the weather god. They will be rewarded with magnificent vintages.
