Vino Gross

Gross Bottles
VINO GROSSRegion: ŠTAJERSKA HALOZE
Address: Gorca 43, 2286 Podlehnik, SlowenienPhone: +43 (0)664 820 61 79Website: https://www.vinogross.com/?noredirect=enOwners: Mihael & Maria GrossWinemaker & Contact: Mihael Gross +43/664-820-61-79, hello@vinogross.comHectares/ Grapes grown: Sipon (Furmint), Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Gewurztraminer Produce both regional and single vineyard, grown 300-350 m.

Vino Gross is the Slovenian offshoot of Weingut Gross, located across the border in Austria’s Sudsteiermark. There’s an interesting story in this. Mihael Gross and his brother Johannes inherited shared winemaking duties at the family’s Weingut Gross property for ten years. During that time the two brothers married two sisters, Martina and Maria, and all got on well working together.

About fifteen years ago their father bought a house in Haloze – known as the land of 1000 hills -- which the whole family fell in love with. This love of Slovenia and its potential to make great wine inspired the two brothers to form a joint partnership called Gross & Gross with Martina & Johannes now managing Weingut Gross in Austria while Maria & Michael develop Vino Gross in Slovenia.

The wines at Vino Gross are certified organic and follow a minimalist philosophy: unfiltered, low sulphuring, fermented spontaneously with native yeasts, etc. Wines are matured on lees for long periods in large, traditional, 2800 litre wooden barrels and bottled according to regional, village or vineyard designations.

Haloze’s steep tightly crenulated slopes (up to 65°) make site exposure to catch the sun all day more important that elevation (vineyards are at 300-350 metres). Mihael is part of the movement away from technology driven wines angling instead for allowing his vineyards’ positioning, weather and soil types to shape styles: ‘We can consider ourselves lucky to be in a region that reflects its terroir quite easily. In other areas you have to make a lot of effort to achieve a typical regional taste. This is mostly done through wine styles and not really through terroir expression.’

All of Gross’s wines are of very high quality and pure, with a transparency that accurately reflects the vineyard and year they were grown in.

An interesting aside. After 8 years using screwcaps within the Austrian winery Mihael has taken his wines back under cork. He found his wines didn’t evolve and seemed to be frozen into the state they were in at bottling.

View Gross wine notes here

Gross Vineyard

Haloze's land of 1000 hills

Gross barrels

Traditional large oval barrels

Gross people

Old family estate