Schrammel 2.0
A Start-up with a Family Tradition
Quick facts:
Location: the village of Wolkersdorf im Weinviertel, Austria
Owner & winemaker: Nicole & Daniel Schrammel
Vineyard area: 0.95 ha (4.3 acres) estate-owned + 0.7ha in long-term rental
Vineyard management: practicing organics
Soils: loess, fertile humus-rich soil (“chernozem”)
Main varieties: Gruner Veltliner, Zweigeltrebe
Annual production (approx.): 5,000 bottles
Winemaking: sparkling wines made as pet-nats, skin-contact whites and free-run reds aged in glass and tanks with significant lees contact. No fining, no filtration, no sulfur additions for the Alternativ range.
Fun facts:
- The winery started in 2015, with a tiny Gruner Veltliner plot taken care of by Daniel and bottled for the local market
- With a new vineyard addition in 2018, the couple plunged into full-on natural mode, and the Schrammel 2.0 label was born
- The project is a true micro-winery focused on old vines (their own plantations come from 1962 and 1979, planted by Nicole’s grandfather)
- The couple isn’t classically trained – Daniel works in sales and marketing in nearby Vienna and Nicole, whose family traditionally owned vineyards, is a special-needs teacher currently taking care of their three kids
- The vines are cultivated with a lot of biodiversity, including the family’s own vegetable garden.
Jump to wines | Schrammel 2.0 website
“We saw a diamond in the rough and felt the need to bring it back to our responsibility,” says Daniel Schrammel about the tipping point of their wife&husband micro-winery project, based just outside Vienna, Austria. The hidden gem he’s talking about is a tiny plot of old vines that was nearly uprooted if it hadn’t been for their intervention. “The vines were planted by my grandfather in 1979, but over the years the family abandoned viticulture and leased the plot. In 2018, the tenant farmer came to the family with his plan to clear and replace the old vines, and we felt we should take action to avoid such a loss,” Nicole Schrammel, fellow winemaker and a busy mother of three, explains what made them plunge even deeper into natural wine.
The couple was already making a bit of wine at that point—it all began in 2015 with the Kellerwein label, a tiny production of Gruner Veltliner grown by Daniel himself and bottled for the regional market. “From the very first moment, we worked with the deepest conviction for organic viticulture and a minimal approach. Today I know that this is called low intervention,” Daniel smiles. The Kellerwein wines are spontaneously fermented, yet still more on the classical “elegant, suitable for beginners” side of the natural wine spectrum, as the creator calls it himself.
With that old-vineyard addition in 2018, the Schrammels had a whole different challenge to face: “All of a sudden, we had four times the amount of grapes than before, which was a bit too much for the super-regional approach. And since we had fallen in love with natural wine in the meantime, we founded Schrammel 2.0 / Alternativ Wein as a dedicated label to focus on wine made with grapes and nothing else. 2.0 by name, but number one for our hearts,” Daniel describes fondly.
This shift has also allowed him to work with varieties other than Grüner Veltliner, which the Kellerwein wines are exclusively made of; under the 2.0 label, you’ll also find fruity rosé pet-nats and still reds made from the red Zweigelt grape. And, with the brand new addition of a 0.7ha vineyard of St. Laurent, Merlot and Rösler that Daniel just leased from a local winemaker, there are surely more succulent reds on the horizon. “The great thing is that the vineyard has been cultivated organically for decades and has never seen bad times. And it’s in a top location. The condition of the lease was that I had to start the certification process—the organic community is a skillful gang,” Daniel laughs.
Not that it bothers him in the least—although currently uncertified, their own vineyards are a testimony to their belief in biodiversity and respect for the natural flow of things. In order to avoid soil compression, the couple does as much as possible manually; different trees, bushes, and plants keep the vines company to increase the soil’s water-retaining capacity and attract insects, and the couple grows their own vegetables among the vines.
“I resonate a lot with a statement in Isabelle Legeron’s Natural Wine book: ‘It’s like when you let a high jumper who usually trains with the bar at 2 meters jump over an 80-centimeter hurdle and then give him a medal for it.’ We’ve been doing all these things and more already. But I understand the upsides of the certification.” Just like in the vineyard, there’s nothing to hide in the cellar either—their wines are made in a very old local Keller, located in a “cellar lane” typical for the region, using zero-additives, glass demijohns, and stainless steel tanks. “The old cellar’s set up means a lot of handwork for us, but also ideal aging conditions for the wine. And, above all, it resonates with our philosophy of sustainability and conservation of traditional resources in the production of something valuable,” the couple asserts. A true “start-up with a family tradition”, as they playfully call it themselves.
- Alternativ Weiss
- Alternativ Orange
- Alternativ Rot
- Alternativ Rosé
- Color Weiss Pet-Nat
- Color Rot Pet-Nat
- Color Rosé Pet-Nat
- Color Rot “Piquette”
- Color Orange “Piquette”
- Naturwerk Pet-Nat
- Keller Paradiso
- Keller Gruner Veltliner Barrique
Alternativ Weiss — Back to the top
Winemaker’s note: “The production method, which maximizes the surface area of wine
exposed to lees, gives the wine noble linearity. Far from imparting off or `reductive` flavors, the long, extensive lees contact both buttresses and preserves the wine’s architecture against
any hint of oxidation. The wine is textured, has presence and gravitas. Our white mastercuvee!”
Grape: Gruner Veltliner
Vineyard: loess, planted in 1962 and 1979
Cellar: The grapes are harvested manually in multiple picks (to gain acidity in the early harvests and structure in the later ones), each of them gently pressed and fermented for 3 months in individual glass balloons (demijohns). The wines are then blended and aged with the lees in steel tanks for about 12 months. Bottled with zero addition of sulfur, unfined and unfiltered into clay bottles.
Personality: the significant presence of lees gives the wine a distinct creamy style and tannic structure, balanced by pleasant acidity and stony mineral finish.
Alternativ Orange — Back to the top
Winemaker’s note: “Gruner Veltliner from our oldest vineyard which is cultivated according to the minimal pruning system. This allows us to achieve a higher proportion of skins to juice, perfect for skin contact wine. ”
Vineyard: loess, planted in 1962 and 1979
Grape: Gruner Veltliner
Cellar: The hand-harvested grapes are destemmed, gently stomped, and fermented spontaneously on skins for ~3 weeks. The free-run juice is then aged in a steel tank for about a year. The wine is deliberately bottled with a significant proportion of the lees to keep its original character. Unfined and unfiltered, with zero addition of sulfur.
Personality: structure and tannins that you would expect in reds, but with the freshness and fruitiness of white grapes! Fresh aromas of green tea, citrus fruit, and herbs dance on fine tannins and lingering bright finish.
Alternativ Rot — Back to the top
2021
Winemaker’s note: “Combining the new with the proven, rethinking the local with the
international, that is the basic idea behind this wine. The main part is Rösler, a PiWi (fungus-resistant) grape which provides a deep color and a restrained tannin structure, complemented with Merlot.”
Grapes: 70% Roesler, 30% Merlot
Vineyard: loess, planted in 1962, 1979 and 2008
Vinification: manual harvest. Open-vat fermentation on skins with manual stirring. The process naturally extends, thanks to the cool cellar temperatures of the room, over several weeks. Free-run juice only, no press. Further aging takes place in steel tanks for about one year. Bottled deliberately cloudy in order to preserve the valuable ingredients and to keep the wine’s original character.
Personality: fruity and velvety, with harmonious tannins.
2019 and 2020 were cuvee of local red stars of the past and present from a single vineyard.
Grape: Zweigeltrebe, St. Laurent, Roesler
Vineyard: loess, planted in 1962 and 1979
Cellar: The hand-harvested grapes are destemmed, gently stomped, and fermented spontaneously on skins for 4 weeks. The free-run juice is then aged in a steel tank for about a year. The wine is bottled into white clay bottles with a deliberately high proportion of the lees to keep its original character. Unfined and unfiltered, with zero addition of sulfur.
Personality: drinkable yet with depth and extravagance. Cherry and berries, nice round texture, pleasantly spicy tone.
Alternativ Rosé — Back to the top
A saignée rosé made with the traditional red grapes of Austria, to show how structured and intriguing can good rosé be.
Grape: 2021 is 50-50 Zweigelt-St. Laurent, 2020 was 100% Zweigeltrebe
Vineyard: loess, planted in 1962 and 1979
Cellar: The hand-harvested grapes are destemmed, gently stomped, and fermented spontaneously on skins for only a few hours. Only the free-run juice was used, no press. Further aging takes place in stainless steel tanks until spring. Deliberately bottled very cloudy in order to preserve the valuable ingredients and to keep the wine’s original character. Unfined and unfiltered, with zero addition of sulfur.
Personality: freshness and the fruitiness that would usually be expected only in white wines but with structure and tannins of red grapes. Cloudy, yummy, and very limited.
Color Weiss 
Pet-Nat – Back to the top
Grape: Gruner Veltliner
Vineyard: loess, planted in 1962 and 1979
Cellar: The hand-harvested grapes are destemmed, gently pressed, and fermented spontaneously in stainless steel tanks. Bottled according to the Méthode Ancestrale while the fermentation is still going, unfined and unfiltered, with zero addition of sulfur. Disgorged `dirty` to remove the tartaric acid but preserve its slight haze, in the following spring.
Personality: Pure & fruity, slightly sour; the perfect adult lemonade.
Color Rot Pet-Nat — Back to the top
Grape: Gruner Veltliner and Zweigeltrebe
Vineyard: loess, planted in 1962 and 1979
Cellar: The Gruner grapes are destemmed, gently pressed, and fermented spontaneously in stainless steel tanks. Bottled according to the Méthode Ancestrale while the fermentation is still going, unfined and unfiltered, with zero addition of sulfur. Disgorged `dirty` to preserve its slight haze, in the following spring. The Zweigelt grapes get a few hours of maceration on skins and the free-run juice is then fermented into still red, which is added to the bottle after its disgorgement.
Personality: Raspberry & sour cherry lightness.
Color Rosé Pet-Nat — Back to the top
Grape: Gruner Veltliner and Zweigeltrebe
Vineyard: loess, planted in 1962 and 1979
Cellar: The grapes are destemmed, gently pressed, and fermented spontaneously in stainless steel tanks. Bottled according to the Méthode Ancestrale while the fermentation is still going, unfined and unfiltered, with zero addition of sulfur. Disgorged `dirty` to preserve its slight haze but get rid of the tartaric acid, in the following spring.
Personality: very pure & fruity, with fine yeasty notes, refreshing acidity, delicate bubbles and low ABV that make it really easy to drink.
Color Rot “Piquette” — Back to the top
“Piquette 2.0! According to the nose-to-tail / #zerowaste principle, we use the mash of our still wines as the basis for this wine. As we do not press, our grape pomace is full of fruit and flavors. It is not combined with water as usual, but with a very light young wine over several weeks, kept in barrels and then refermented the next vintage, creating enormously interesting flavor profiles.”
Grapes: Merlot pomace, Zweigelt low ABV wine
Vineyard: loess, planted in 1962 and 1979
Cellar: the pomace is combined with light young Zweigelt wine. After a couple of weeks of maceration, the wine is pressed and kept until the next harvest. As soon as the fresh must is available, it is blended with the base wine to start a second fermentation. Bottled while still going to capture the bubbles under crown cap.
Personality: Juicy, fresh, bubbly, the perfect bottle of aperitive pleasure.
Color Orange “Piquette” — Back to the top
“Piquette 2.0! According to the nose-to-tail principle, we use the mash of our still wines as
the basis for this wine. This is not combined with water as usual, but with a very light young wine over several weeks, kept in barrels and then refermented the next vintage.”
Grapes: Grüner Veltliner (pomace + young light wine)
Vineyard: loess, planted in 1962 and 1979
Cellar: the pomace is combined with light young Gruner wine. After a couple of weeks of maceration, the wine is pressed and put into used acacia barrels until the next harvest. As soon as the fresh must is available, it is blended to the base wine to start a second fermentation. Bottled while still going to keep capture the bubbles under crown cap.
Personality: new flavor horizons of the Grüner Veltliner variety! Deeper citrus rind & spice notes, with a pleasant lift and freshness of the light young wine and the bubbles.
Naturwerk Pet-Nat — Back to the top
Grape: Gruner Veltliner
Vineyard: loess, planted in 1962
Cellar: The hand-harvested grapes are destemmed, gently pressed after 6 hours of skin maceration, and then fermented spontaneously in stainless steel tanks. Bottled according to the Méthode Ancestrale while the fermentation is still going, unfined and unfiltered, with zero addition of sulfur. Disgorged in the following spring.
Personality: Acid-driven! Pleasant aromas of green apples, fine bubbles, low alcohol (10.6% ABV only) make this natural sparkler really easy to enjoy.
Keller Paradiso — Back to the top
Daniel on this wine: “Grüner Veltliner reinterpreted: we kept the varietally typical `Pfefferl` (spiciness) and acidity, so beloved by the Weinviertl locals, but made it according to natural wine ways – spontaneously fermented, unadulterated, naturally cloudy, without the addition of sulfur. This is how we imagine a modern GV!”
Grape: Gruner Veltliner
Vineyard: loess, planted in 1962
Cellar: The early, hand-harvested grapes are destemmed and the free-run juice is then naturally fermented in a stainless-steel tank until second full moon of the following year. Bottled deliberately cloudy to preserve the wine’s character. unfined and unfiltered, with zero addition of sulfur.
Personality: fresh fresh fresh! Great pick for people who like it a bit more “classical”, too.
Keller Gruner Veltliner Barrique 18 — Back to the top
Daniel on this wine: “This wine matured in barrels made with local acacia wood from trees grown in the same conditions as the vines in the vineyards – a symbolic union happening in the depths of the cellar.”
Grape: Gruner Veltliner
Making of: Manual harvest in September 2018. Spontaneous fermentation in steel
tanks, aging in used acacia barrels. Bottled with addition of SO2 after several years without filtration.
Personality: round, pleasant, very fresh and charming.