Maria and Sepp Muster
More and more of less and less
Quick facts:
Location: the village of Leutschach, Southern Styria, Austria
Owner & winemaker: Sepp & Maria Muster
Vineyard area: 10 hectares (~ 43 acres), estate-owned
Vineyard management: certified organic and biodynamic (member of Demeter since 2003)
Soils: Opok, i.e. rocky clay and silt over chalky marl subsoil
Main varieties: Sauvignon, Chardonnay (locally called Morillon), Zweigelt
Annual production (approx.): 25,000 bottles
Winemaking: beautifully minimal. Spontaneous fermentation only, neutral clay and oak vats or barrels, no fining, no filtration, no added sulfur.
Fun facts:
- The compellingly meditative labels of Muster wines are the work of Maria & Sepp’s friend, artist Beppo Pliem, and express the natural interaction between earth, sky and grape
- Most of the estate’s 10ha of vineyards are rather old vines and lay on the slopes rolling around the couple’s house, located atop a hill – the perfect commute…
- Sepp took the vineyards over from his father in 2000, but the estate’s history can be dated back to 1727
- Maria Muster is the sister of Andreas and Ewald Tscheppe (of the Werlitsch winery), two equally lauded South Styrian natural wine legends
- All three wineries along with their friends at Tauss and Strohmeier formed a circle called Schmecke das Leben (“taste the life” in German) in the early aughts in order to exchange their experience with like-minded peers. We enjoy their holistic approach and pure, elegant wines immensely and are happy to represent 4 out of 5 of these winemakers in the US!
Jump to wines | Muster Website
Rolling, lush green hills reminiscent of Tolkien’s Hobbit, an ancient, painstakingly restored bright yellow country house atop one of those knolls, a kitchen the size of a small classroom with a generously-sized dining table and a huge traditional tile stove with simmering pots right next to it: zooming into the vivid and homely setting of Sepp & Maria Muster’s South Styrian home is almost too much to take in even for a seasoned wine traveler. Unique beauty and energy radiate from both the 300-year-old house and the wisdom of the vineyards that immediately surround it (best commute ever), and the same calm yet gripping vibe, unsurprisingly, also oozes from the couple’s elegant whites, reds, and skin-contact wines.
Inspired by encounters with biodynamic agriculture and several years spent in India and Australia, the couple knew this was the only way they wanted to farm when taking the helm of the estate from Sepp’s father in 2000. “We discovered quickly that the soil is where everything begins. Vitality in the soil leads to vitality in the plant, and ultimately, in every bottle of wine,” Sepp explains their simple yet complex philosophy. Since the vineyards have never seen any herbicides or pesticides, the conversion went rather smoothly, and the vineyards have been certified by the Demeter Association since 2003. “Caring for our vines is like caring for a friend – we support them where we can with biodynamic preparations and teas, and in exchange, they provide us with small and highly aromatic grapes,” they muse. And like in true friendship, there’s also freedom, and a touch of uncertainty about what the future holds: “Nature is unpredictable, and having a strict plan does not always work in humans’ favor. Understanding that allowed us to accept and balance this lack of security, and we feel that we have grown more open and aware because of it,” Maria attests to their belief that nature can’t be controlled, only worked with.
The vineyards are planted with locally typical Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Welschriesling, Gelbmuscateller and Zweigelt, Blaufrankisch and Blauer Wildbacher, trellised on a single-wire system supported by chestnut wood poles. “It’s a traditional, established solution, perfectly suited to our region and our soil,” Sepp praises this solution’s virtues as we climb the steep slopes of his mighty Opok. This mix of limestone, clay, and silt is so essential to the wines’ character, endowing them with a rich texture and distinct minerality, that the Musters named one of their wine ranges after it. In order to preserve these unique traits as much as possible, the cellar work is kept to a minimum: “I don’t really go here much,” Sepp nods with a smile when the tour continues in his cellar.
The bunker-looking room full of barrels of various sizes also houses several big clay amphoras; when asked about his preference, Sepp just laughs and recalls how he used to age the same wine in both clay and barrel: “If I told people during the tasting which is which and asked their preference, they’d usually go for the amphora; if I didn’t tell them, they mostly preferred the barrel-aged one. In the end, I thought, whatever, with the way we work it’s not that important anyway, and now I mostly blend it if I use both vessels… but it’s nice to have some new gadgets to play around with sometimes,” he chuckles. Other than that, there aren’t many other gadgets around indeed; the wines are gently hand-harvested, spontaneously fermented and then left to their own devices for 18 months or more: “Inaction is just as important as action. It’s essential to do the right thing at the right moment.”
The result of these actions and inactions is then bottled without further intervention (including sulfur) and dotted with simple yet beautiful labels painted by Maria & Sepp’s friend, artist Beppo Pliem. Just as all the other aspects of Muster wines, they are compellingly meditative and carry a powerful message: “The greatest of all misconceptions is that all is in order. But it is not; no order, no explanations, no answers. Shortly before his passing, our friend found his answers on the horizon and in a reduction to the essentials. Since then, his paintings adorn our bottles and are thus an expression of natural interaction between earth, sky, and grape. The wine, coming out of this symbiosis, is our own personal idea of freedom and responsibility.”
Sauvignon vom Opok — Back to the top
Age of Vines: up to 20 years old
Soil: Opok – limestone and clay silt
Varieties: Sauvignon Blanc
Making of: Grapes are hand-harvested, destemmed, and gently pressed. They are fermented in 2400-liter oval wooden casks with indigenous yeasts. The wine then spends about 20 months aging in big neutral wooden casks. Bottled without fining or filtration, no sulfur added.
Personality: light and fresh with an extra mineral oomph coming from the Opok soil. Citrus, elderflower, wet stones, beautiful acidity: Sauvignon in its elegant, terroir-driven form.
Opok (White blend) — Back to the top
Age of Vines: up to 20 years old
Soil: Opok – Limestone and clay silt
Varieties: Welschriesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Gelber Muskateller, Morillon (Chardonnay)
Making of: Grapes are hand-harvested, destemmed, and gently pressed. They are fermented in 2400-liter oval wooden casks with indigenous yeasts. The wine then spends about 20 months aging in big neutral wooden casks. Bottled without fining or filtration, no sulfur added.
Personality: blend of all the white varieties grown by the estate with lovely acidity and precision intertwined with a creamy texture and lush citrusy notes.
Graf Sauvignon — Back to the top 
Sepp and Maria on this wine: “Graf” is the german word for Count. This title of nobility has been the name of our estate since its beginning. At some point, we wanted to honor that name in one of our wine lines. For our Count, we take old vines on meager Opok. For as long as we remember, Zweigelt, Morillon, and Sauvignon Blanc have been planted in these special vineyards. For us, Graf also means the center, as the vineyard lies between the higher located Sgaminegg and the slightly lower Opok-line.”
Age of Vines: around 40 years old
Soil: Opok – Limestone and clay silt, here in its more rocky, meager form
Varieties: Sauvignon Blanc
Making of: Grapes are hand-harvested, destemmed, and gently pressed. They are fermented in 2400-liter oval wooden casks with indigenous yeasts. The wine then spends about 2 years aging in neutral wooden casks. Bottled without fining or filtration, no sulfur added.
Personality: pronounced mineral note, peaches, Meyer lemon, silky texture and acidity for days. A treat.
Graf Morillon — Back to the top
Sepp and Maria on this wine: “Graf” is the German word for Count. This title of nobility has been the name of our estate since its beginning. At some point, we wanted to honor that name in one of our wine lines. For our Count, we take old vines on meager Opok. For as long as we remember, Zweigelt, Morillon, and Sauvignon Blanc have been planted in these special vineyards. For us, Graf also means the center, as the vineyard lies between the higher located Sgaminegg and the slightly lower Opok-line.”
Age of Vines: around 40 years old
Soil: Opok – Limestone and clay silt, here in its more rocky, meager form
Varieties: Morillon (the local name for Chardonnay)
Making of: Grapes are hand-harvested, destemmed, and gently pressed. They are fermented in 2400-liter oval wooden casks with indigenous yeasts. The wine then spends about 2 years aging in neutral wooden casks. Bottled without fining or filtration, no sulfur added.
Personality: the lush character of the grape meets the elegant zestiness of Styria. Think ripe quince on the rocks with a breezy touch of the finest sea salt and smoke. Mouthwatering.
Graf Zweigelt — Back to the top
Sepp and Maria on this wine: “Graf” is the German word for Count. This title of nobility has been the name of our estate since its beginning. At some point, we wanted to honor that name in one of our wine lines. For our Count, we take old vines on meager Opok. For as long as we remember, Zweigelt, Morillon, and Sauvignon Blanc have been planted in these special vineyards. For us, Graf also means the center, as the vineyard lies between the higher located Sgaminegg and the slightly lower Opok-line.”
Age of Vines: around 40 years old
Soil: Opok – Limestone and clay silt, here in its more rocky, meager form
Varieties: Zweigelt
Making of: Grapes are hand-harvested, destemmed, and gently pressed. They are fermented in 2400-liter oval wooden casks with indigenous yeasts. The wine then spends about 2 years aging in neutral wooden casks. Bottled without fining or filtration, no sulfur added.
Personality: there’s cherry and oak and tobacco leaves and nutmeg and cranberry and probably about 300 other notes hints and flavors that you’ll happily discover over and over.
Rosé vom Opok — Back to the top 
Age of Vines: up to 40 years old
Soil: Opok – limestone and clay silt
Varieties: Zweigelt, Blauer Wildbacher, Blaufränkisch
Making of: Grapes are hand-harvested, destemmed, and gently pressed. They are fermented in wooden casks with indigenous yeasts. The wine then spends about 20 months aging in big neutral wooden casks. Bottled without fining or filtration, no sulfur added.
Personality: fresh and light! There’s some wonderful signature Blaufrankisch fruit, Zweigelt spicy touch, and hi-Wildbacher acidity, and it all drinks oh so well.
Erde — Back to the top
Erde means “earth” in German, reminiscing where it all begins for good natural wine, as well as the earthiness of this long-skin-contact cuvée, born of hrapes macerated for up to 12 months.
Age of Vines: around 30 years old
Soil: Opok – Limestone and clay silt
Varieties: Sauvignon Blanc and Morillon (Chardonnay)
Making of: Grapes are hand-harvested and half of them are destemmed. The grapes then macerate on the skins for 12 months before they are transferred to 1200-liter oval wooden tanks for elevage for about 20 months. Bottled without fining or filtration, no sulfur added.
Personality: quite something. Very herbal, out there on the ripe fruit aromas, the signature dense earthiness. Take this wine out on a date and be ready to only come home after 3 days or so. Or maybe a week.
Gräfin — Back to the top 
Grafin means “countess” in German, the female counterpart of Muster’s Graf range.
Age of Vines: 30 years old
Soil: Opok – Limestone and clay silt
Varieties: Sauvignon Blanc
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and partly destemmed. They are fermented in 2400-liter wooden casks with indigenous yeast. The grapes macerate on the skins for between 2 and 4 weeks before they are transferred to 2400 and 1200-liter oval wooden tanks for elevage for about 23 months. Bottled without fining or filtration, no sulfur added.
Personality: Sauv blanc edge meets maceration roundness. Wonderfully balanced between lush fruit, smoky and herbal notes and acidic backbone. Perfect pairing wine offering so much to play with.
Sgaminegg — Back to the top
Maria and Sepp on this wine: “Sgaminegg is an old Slavic term for the stony soil in this area. The grapevines for this wine will always be rooted in pure Opok, elevated slightly higher than most of our vineyards, therefore cooled by the winds coming from the nearby Koralpe mountains. Rooted deeply in the meager, cool stone, the vines develop complex aromas present in every Sgaminegg wine.”
Age of Vines: 40 years old
Yields: 3000 kilograms/hectare
Soil: pure Opok – rocky limestone and clay silt
Varieties: Sauvignon blanc, Morillon
Making of: Grapes are hand harvested, destemmed, and fermented in 1200-liter wooden casks with indigenous yeasts. The wine is then transferred to 225-liter barrels for elevage for 23 months, and is bottled without fining or filtration and with zero sulfur added.
Personality: so much of everything and everything good. It’s mineral, it’s fresh, it’s layered and lush. A true “Grand Cru” experience.
Gelber Muskateller vom Opok — Back to the top
Age of Vines: 20 years old
Soil: Opok – Limestone and clay silt
Varieties: Gelber Muskateller
Making of: Grapes are hand-harvested, destemmed, and gently pressed. They are fermented in 2400-liter oval wooden casks with indigenous yeasts. The wine then spends about 20 months aging in big neutral wooden casks. Bottled without fining or filtration, no sulfur added.
Personality: spicy on the nose, super fresh in the mouth. Its exotic flavors and low ABV make it especially irresistible.