In 2020, Alwin and Stef Jurtschitsch teamed up with three other certified organic growers in the Kamptal, Susi Hahn, Michael Gerbing, and Thomas Janka to make the first vintage of Sonnhof Social Club. The Jurtschitsch family had a long tradition of bottling liter and doppler (two liter) bottles and with the new partnership, the tradition is being revived. The growers are bonded together by their dedication to organic farming in the Kamptal. All of the grapes are harvested by hand and come from the four growers certified organic vineyards. The wine is made at the Jurtschitsch winery in stainless steel tanks with spontaneous fermentations.
The Sonnhof Social Club label is based off of an old traditional loop-style label of the Jurtschitsch family winery that used to be on the doppler bottles. Sonnhof is the old name of the domaine and is still found on the walls of the Jurtschitsch winery.
The one liter bottle is very strongly linked to Austrian wine culture. Sharing a liter bottle was a special time to bring friends and family together. According to Jurtschitsch, when “you put a liter bottle on the table, you had to finish it before it became warm. When wine became more prestigious and chichi it was not cool any more to serve this size of a bottle. But I like this tradition as it reflects the old school honest “grower wines”. Many of the grape growers who do not sell wine anymore still produce at least some small barrels for themselves and their families and friends and still bottle them in one liter. It is a wine made for drinking with family and friends.”
2019 was the first vintage made and in 2020, the Club expanded and the fruit will come from seven growers total, all organic of course. Less than 1,000 cases were made of the 2019 vintage.