Prager

Weingut Prager is a family business with a long tradition. For example, evidence has been found – in the Michaelbeuern monastery – that the vineyards Ritzling, Hinter der Burg and Leber were already in the family’s possession in 1715. The winery is managed by son-in-law Toni Bodenstein and his wife Ilse Prager. Ilse and Toni have been responsible for the quality of Weingut Prager since the early nineties. The philosophy is that the wines reflect the character of the vineyard – the terroir – as much as possible. Toni has also been active for many years in increasing the genetic variation of the grape varieties in his vineyards, as was the case in the past. He also puts his shoulder to the wheel in the breeding of old vines in his vineyards.

Only own grapes
Prager has 17 hectares of vineyards, which are located on steep terraces in and around Weissenkirchen (including Steinriegl, Klaus, Achleiten and Weitenberg). He has only Grüner Veltliner and Riesling and also uses only grapes from his own vineyards. The steep terraces can only be worked by hand, which requires six times as much work as in flat vineyards.

Riesling specialist
Prager is considered the largest Riesling specialist in the Wachau. With 60% plantings, Riesling is even more important to him than Grüner Veltliner (40%). He makes a Federspiel and a large number of Smaragd wines per grape variety. These are wines with a lot of harmony, finesse and a long storage potential. Prager exports about 70% of his wines, the USA is his most important export market.