Nador

Ambassador of the terroir

The idea

NADOR crosses borders. NADOR stands primarily for the pressing of Kékfrankos (Blaufränkisch) grapes and comes to the market with the onset of drinking maturity after 5 years of aging and maturation. In 2018 a small vineyard was planted with Furmint and in a few years we will be able to welcome a white wine from our own vines to the family.

“I want to create wines, delicious Kékfrankos from the Eisenberg – but from the other side, the Hungarian side. There, NADOR finds excellent climatic conditions and grows on virgin soils that have been fallow for more than 50 years – historic top sites,” said Rainer Garger in 2000 and actually began to implement his visions. After almost two decades of persistent development work, more than 10 vintages have been vinified. The wonderful, elegant Kékfrankos, with their dark spicy note justify the effort and compensate for the efforts of the past years.

The background

Rainer Garger, born in Graz in 1963 and raised in Krems on the Danube, has always had a connection to wine – and, due to numerous visits to his Hungarian family, a connection to the Eisenberg, which is divided by the state border into two roughly equal halves (120 km east of Graz, 130 km south of Vienna).

During each visit, pleasant afternoons in the grandparents’ wine cellar were obligatory, where the typical, honestly produced Eisenberg Kékfrankos was drunk with hearty snacks. Thus, Rainer Garger got to know the wines in their originality where they are also ripened and fermented. With the love for Blaufränkisch, therefore, soon germinated also subliminally the desire to press himself a single-varietal Kékfrankos of the highest quality from these grapes – one that should be among the best that this area can produce.

The foundation stone for NADOR was laid in 2001. In that year Garger began to buy the first vineyards.

The team

Rainer Garger

Rainer Garger is the initiator of the NADOR project. He is involved in all decisions from the vineyard to vinification and manages the marketing. His partners are supporting him in the realization of this ambitious project.

Garger was born in Graz (Styria) in 1963, grew up in the beautiful Wachau region and has been associated with wine all his life. NADOR was planned from the beginning as a cross-border and cross-border connecting project. The Austrian and oenological side is covered by the renowned winemakers Reinhold Krutzler and Christoph Wachter. Garger is married to Sandra from Switzerland, the couple lives in Vienna with their 4 children.

Imre Garger

Rainer Garger’s Hungarian cousin manages all the vineyard work on site. He meticulously cares for the well-being of the vines, near-natural management is particularly close to his heart. The vineyard is the most beautiful workplace for the autodidact, he knows every single plot like the back of his hand. Imre Garger himself farms three hectares around Vaskeresztes, and his award-winning wines are mostly sold in Hungary.

Reinhold Krutzler

Reinhold Krutzler is responsible for the vinification of NADOR Lage Wanzer. Krutzler appreciates the locations at Vashegy. He knows the vineyards, knows that they contain blue and green shale as well as quartz deposits. He supported NADOR at a very early stage. Krutzler and Garger decide on style and expansion together. The experienced winemaker was attracted by the task of working with grapes from the other side of the Eisenberg. Krutzler has been among the absolute red wine elite for years and is thus a significant asset for NADOR.

Christoph Wachter

With the introduction of the site wines from the 2012 vintage, the NADOR team gained another top winemaker: Christoph Wachter, Weingut Wachter&Wiesler, has been vinifying the Voller site since 2012. From vintage 2017 he is also responsible for our NADOR Falu and the NADOR – Selection LPG.

The wine

The starting signal for NADOR was in 2001. Best sites of Vashegy, steep and south oriented and fallow. Some 60 years ago, the best wines grew here, but no one wanted to cultivate the steep slopes anymore. That appealed to Garger. With the help of his family, a total of 2.7 hectares of vineyards were gradually acquired, including the Wanzer site, which had to be purchased from more than 20 owners. That was the starting signal for NADOR.

A little later, Garger inherited 0.17 hectares of the Stuala site, which his grandmother had worked all her life.

In 2003, Garger finally acquired 0.7 hectares of the Voller site. The vineyards were planted with Blaufränkisch vines in 2003 – 2007.

In 2017, another 0.5 hectares of the Voller site were acquired and planted with Furmint in March 2018.

More than ten years after the acquisition of the first vineyard, the time had come: in the spring of 2013, a limited edition of 500 bottles of NADOR 2009 was launched – all bottled exclusively in magnums.

Since then, NADOR wines are characterized by their straight longevity and the herbaceous spice runs through the smell and taste. The iron mountain can be felt.

The name NADOR

Nador is Hungarian and means the ambassador, the deputy of the king. In the Middle Ages, Nador was a title granted by the king. Nador sounds distinctive and refers mainly to the immediate history of the border region.

The starting point of the research was the monastery of Pernau (originally founded as a Cistercian settlement), which had been dominant for centuries, and the neighboring Deutsch Grossdorf (today: Vaskeresztes). The monastery was the social and economic center of the region for centuries since its foundation in 1219. The founder of the monastery, Banus Chepan, bore the title of Nador and was the scion of an ancient noble family on what is now Hungarian soil. From the beginning, the monastery was devoted to agriculture, animal husbandry and viticulture. One of the five villages belonging to the monastery’s sphere of influence is today’s Vaskeresztes, which was responsible for wine growing.

Since the vineyards acquired by Garger probably once belonged to the property of the monastery, the naming of the wine after the founder Nador Istvan Banus seemed plausible. The wine is named after the title of the founder NADOR and wants to act as a royal envoy of Vashedy.

During the research they also came across the former coat of arms of the Vaskeresztes municipality, which was in use from 1509 to 1921. Today, the coat of arms adorns the label of NADOR.

The area

The gently rolling landscape is spoiled with up to 280 days of sunshine per year. Nature parks and numerous hiking and biking trails invite visitors to unwind in the quiet, uncluttered countryside. Small-scale farms and vineyards characterize the landscape. The region is known for its mineral-spicy Blaufränkisch wines with their unmistakable typicity.

But a little more than 100 years ago, the potential of Blaufränkisch was discovered on the Eisenberg. According to a legend, the Blaufränkisch vines (called “Burgundy” by the locals) were brought to Austria by Francis Stephen of Lorraine in the 18th century. The vines were therefore mistakenly considered French vines and consequently called “Burgundy vines”.

Today the Hungarian part of the Eisenberg belongs to the Sopron wine region. The vineyard area is about 1,500 hectares, more red wine is produced than white. The white grapes are dominated by Grüner Veltliner, Chardonnay, Traminer, Zenit, Sauvignon Blanc and Frühroter Veltliner, while the red grapes are clearly dominated by Blaufränkisch, which is called Kékfrankos in Hungary.

The layers

The NADOR – vineyards extend over the 3 sites Stuala, Voller and Wanzer with a total size of 3.5 hectares. All vineyards are located on the Vashegy (Hungarian side of the Iron Mountain).

The 3 sites are planted exclusively with Kékfrankos vines. The planting density is 5,000 canes per hectare, and the vines are planted with a row spacing of 2.3 m and 0.9 m cane spacing. The vines newly planted in 2003 – 2007 are each pruned to 1 trellis and 8 eyes. Deep-rooted clover varieties and grasses grow on the vegetated soil between the rows – natural, gentle cultivation of the vineyards is a matter of course.

Eisenberg - The sites - Austria-Hungary - NADOR wine region

History

The history of the area is an eventful one. It was only in 2011 that Burgenland celebrated 90 years of belonging to Austria. A narrow strip of land, which until then had never been a political or administrative unit, joins the Republic of Austria as an “independent federal province with equal rights”. Viticulture in this region dates back to the Celts (800 BC). Later, the Romans, like everywhere in Europe, were also involved in viticulture. As on many now world-famous estates where viticulture has been practiced for several centuries, Cistercian monks around the village of Deutsch-Schützen in southern Burgenland became aware of the special soil and excellent climate for wine production. The lands around the Eisenberg were already in great demand in the Middle Ages (6th – 15th century), as evidenced by numerous exchange contracts of the counts of Güssing.

Like all wine-growing regions in Europe, the Eisenberg was not spared from phylloxera at the end of the 19th century. Many vineyards had to be cleared or fell into disrepair. Later, the political turmoil surrounding the Anschluss to Austria and the border demarcation by the communist regime hampered developments in the region.

At the beginning of the 14th century, Sopron was one of the most important wine regions in Hungary. Unique to the area was that the wine cellars were located in the town under the houses and not, as is common, for example, on Lake Neusiedl, in the vineyards themselves. During the K & K monarchy, the wine region was called Sopron-Rust-Pressburg and was larger than today’s Sopron wine region. As is well known, Rust belongs to the Burgenland wine-growing region of Neusiedlersee Hügelland.

Contact

Weingut Garger

H-9795 Vaskeresztes

T: +43 1 879 93 99

E: office@nadorwine.com

W: www.nadorwine.com


Press

Wirtschaftsblatt, August 8, 2013, Hans Pleininger

Travel Taste “A big red from the other side”.

“Rainer Garger, a newcomer to the wine industry, has fulfilled a dream in the Eisenberg region of Hungary. The run-up to red wine took twelve years – the result “NADOR” tastes great. (…) Vintage 2009: Cool spiciness, good freshness, lots of herbal notes in the aroma, a bit of cassis and blackberries, great minerality and youthful freshness. Heart cherries, lots of depth and pressure, lively tannin, powerful wine with high elegance factor and long finish.”

Die Presse, August 2, 2013, Gerhard Hofer

In the cellar “From the giant among the vineyards”.

“Actually, the Eisenberg on the border of southern Burgenland with Hungary is a hill. As a vineyard, however, it is a giant. To conquer it is difficult. (…) The NADOR Blaufränkisch 2009 is pure excitement. Fine berry aroma, lots of minerality. And yet Rainer Garger has only just reached base camp on his ascent of the Eisenberg.”

Format, August 2, 2013, Herbert Hacker

Wine of the week

“…The quality of the soils “over there” has already been a household name among winemakers on the Austrian side for several years. (…) NADOR is a wine of angular minerality, full-bodied, with pleasant berry fruit and hints of licorice and nougat.”

VINCE Magazine Hungary, June 2013, Erős Zoltán

“NADOR, a Hungarian-Austrian Blaufränkisch”.

“Vintage 2009 was particularly promising. (…) The winemakers were pleased with the results and so 2009 became Garger’s first Blaufränkisch. A wide range of wine lovers will know the wine well. NADOR is also planned for the Hungarian market. (…) The choice of the wine’s name refers to the cross-border relations between Austria and Hungary.”

Downloads

Photos

Cards

Nador Map 1 (PDF)

Nador Map 2 (PDF)

Short info

Nador short info (PDF)

Press kit

Nador Press Kit 2014 (PDF)

Imprint

The history of the area is an eventful one. It was only in 2011 that Burgenland celebrated 90 years of belonging to Austria. A narrow strip of land, which until then had never been a political or administrative unit, joins the Republic of Austria as an “independent federal province with equal rights”. Viticulture in this region dates back to the Celts (800 BC). Later, the Romans, like everywhere in Europe, were also involved in viticulture. As on many now world-famous estates where viticulture has been practiced for several centuries, Cistercian monks around the village of Deutsch-Schützen in southern Burgenland became aware of the special soil and excellent climate for wine production. The lands around the Eisenberg were already in great demand in the Middle Ages (6th – 15th century), as evidenced by numerous exchange contracts of the counts of Güssing.

Like all wine-growing regions in Europe, the Eisenberg was not spared from phylloxera at the end of the 19th century. Many vineyards had to be cleared or fell into disrepair. Later, the political turmoil surrounding the Anschluss to Austria and the border demarcation by the communist regime hampered developments in the region.

At the beginning of the 14th century, Sopron was one of the most important wine regions in Hungary. Unique to the area was that the wine cellars were located in the town under the houses and not, as is common, for example, on Lake Neusiedl, in the vineyards themselves. During the K & K monarchy, the wine region was called Sopron-Rust-Pressburg and was larger than today’s Sopron wine region. As is well known, Rust belongs to the Burgenland wine-growing region of Neusiedlersee Hügelland.

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