Gut Oggau x Embla

“In the glass, they are energetic, exuberant and pure. They are not only a pleasure to drink, they also make you feel healthy and good.” – Eric Asimov, The New York Times.

There’s cult wines and then there’s cult wines. It’s no exaggeration to say that Gut Oggau is one of the most recognisable natural wines in the market today. From the small Austrian town of Oggau, in Burgenland, Eduard and Stephanie Tscheppe have created a global sensation, taking an abandoned 200-year-old winery and restoring it to life. They chose to label their bottles with illustrations of fictitious people, characters designed to reflect the nature of the wines within, whether pert and insouciant, say, or more mature and restrained.

“Our common dream was and is to create something lasting, to change the world, to be inspired and to inspire,” says Stephanie. “We bought Gut Oggau back in 2007, with a lot of youthful enthusiasm, a pinch of naivety, a vision and an exciting, rocky, steep road ahead of us. We dared to take the plunge into the cold water of biodynamic cultivation, out of conviction, in order to close cycles and to maintain and increase the vitality of the vineyards. We saw natural wine as an opportunity to express our unique soils and our origins.”

At this very special dinner you’ll meet the Tscheppes, drink their wines and enjoy a family-style menu designed by Embla chef Dave Verheul to give the wines centre stage. “We’re keeping the food pretty simple here, so the night is all about company and hospitality and hopefully plenty of wine drinking,” says Embla co-owner Christian McCabe. A wine pairing will be available for purchase on the night, as well as other Gut Oggau wines by the bottle and the glass.

“We see ourselves as agriculteurs, as creators of culture, as shapers of cultural landscapes,” Stephanie says. “Our canvases are our vineyards. Wine is so much more than just a beverage.”