Employee Training Portal
Leo Hillinger
“secco” Rosé of Pinot Noir
Leo Hillinger is something of a renaissance man. TV star. High-performance athlete. Author. Investor. And, of course, winemaker.
Leo was born in the city of Eisenstadt in 1967 and grew up in nearby Jois, between the Leitha Mountains and Lake Neusiedl. His grandfather cultivated vineyards and his parents ran a wine business, so he always had a connection to wine. He studied oenology in Germany, and after a three-year internship, returned home to Austria in 1989 with a master's degree as a state-certified economist and master winemaker. Almost immediately, he was awarded a scholarship from the Austrian government to travel abroad and further his winemaking studies in Sonoma, California. One year later, in 1990, he returned home to Jois once again. He officially came on board with the family business, taking the reins of his parents’ wine tavern, while simultaneously moonlighting as a winemaker, focusing on the organic practices he had discovered abroad.
Leo purchased his first twelve hectares of vineyards in nearby Rust in 1997. He traveled abroad extensively, constantly investigating vineyard management, winery operations, and organic winemaking practices in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Leo applied this vast global knowledge back at home in Burgenland, and eventually, in 2004, Leo opened the doors to his winery, Weingut Leo Hillinger, in his hometown of Jois. Shortly thereafter, he followed in his parents’ footsteps and opened the first Leo Hillinger’s Wineshop & Bar Locations (today there are four in Austria).
In the years since, continuous reinvestment and commercial success have given Leo the opportunity to expand his estate’s holdings and bolster his bold vision at the winery, maintaining focus as both an entrepreneur and as a winegrower. Today, the wine estate cultivates 100 hectares of vineyards around the Neusiedlersee in the Leithaberg regions, and its wines are exported to more than twenty countries all over the world. Over fifty percent of the entire production is exported outside of Austria. In doing so, Leo has continued to establish himself as a winegrower, as an entrepreneur, and as an ambassador for his region.
His vision in winemaking has always been simple: to vinify top-quality wines, and do so as closely as possible to nature.
“The fruit must be perfect and should remain so, on its way, unchanged, into the bottle.”
Viticulture has been practiced in Austria for over 3000 years. All of Hillinger’s wines come from within the broader Austrian wine region of Burgenland, in the eastern border of the country, jutting up against Slovenia to the South, Hungary to the East, and Slovakia to the North.
More specifically, Hillinger’s estate grapevines are planted entirely within the Burgenland sub-regions of Leithaberg and Neusiedlersee.
-
Leithaberg is one of the oldest wine-growing regions in the world. It is located on the Burgenland side of the Leitha Range, west of Lake Neusiedl. The discovery of grape seeds as burial objects in a Celtic burial mound from the time of the Hallstatt Culture in Zagersdorf (8th century BC) provides some of the oldest evidence of viticulture in Central Europe. The vineyards sloping down toward Lake Neusiedl and containing countless almond, cherry and peach trees are characteristic of this area.
-
The Neusiedlersee DAC region encompasses the political district of Neusiedl am See, with the exception of the municipalities of Winden and Jois. It extends from the area north of Lake Neusiedl and round the eastern side of the lake. Lake Neusiedl, the largest steppe lake in Central Europe, has an important influence on the microclimate. In summer, the large expanse of water heats up during the day and slowly releases the stored warmth into the surrounding area at night. The slight nocturnal reduction in temperature promotes the development of cool fruit notes and maintains the necessary acidity that gives this wine its distinct character.
“Austria has reinvented itself twice in the last thirty years. The first revolution was away from mass-marketed wines toward better quality. [Secondly], the most recent transformation stemmed from a generational shift, as the children who had learned winemaking from their [parents and grandparents] did internships around the globe and put their knowledge into practice when they took the reins …
“The result is a lot of creativity and movement away from traditional winemaking styles in favor of stainless steel tanks and lower-alcohol, less-concentrated wines.”
… Austria has also received attention for its organic, sustainable, and biodynamic farming practices of late, but it’s always been a pretty green country: Rudolf Steiner, the father of biodynamic farming, was from here. Even though the labels rarely tout their practices, you’d be hard-pressed to find a winemaker spraying [their] vines with pesticides.”
A video "teaser" for the Hillinger branded wine shops and bars (1.5 minute video)
Fun Fact: Leo is also involved with another winery project, in South Africa: Constantia Glen. This is one of over a dozen companies, projects, and investments that Leo has honed over the years — all with a common thread of passion and commitment to excellence and wellness at the very core of their identity — culminated by the vision: More Than Wine.
An overview of what the "More Than Wine" brand is all about (1.5 minute video)
100% Pinot Noir harvested from estate vineyards
Fermentation in stainless steel tanks; carbonation is then added via injection (no secondary fermentation)
ABV: 11.5%
Acidity: 6.7 g/L (neutral)
Residual Sugar: 18g/L
Languages are hard. Don’t let it confuse you!
In Italian winemaking, “vino secco” refers to a dry wine (little-to-no sweetness)
In the broader wine wine world, “sec” and “secco” are used interchangeably with “dry” on the sparkling wine scale, which allows for anywhere between 17-32 g/L of residual sugar
Additionally, in German & Austrian winemaking, “secco” often refers to a wine that is semi-sparkling (softer bubbles)
Certified Organic (since 2010), Practicing Sustainable
The Leo Hillinger winery has been supporting breast cancer relief for many years; As an official Pink Ribbon Partner, the sparkling wine has been dedicated its own label.
Notes of strawberry candy rise from the glass and are dispersed on the palate by a lively, frothy fizz with large bubbles. A friendly, lemony freshness brightens the strawberry fruit. Light, dry and fruity, the body majors on easy enjoyment. A perfect party and patio pink!