The educational centre for fruit growing and viticulture and winery Silberberg is located in Kogelberg near Leibnitz in southern Styria (Austria). The name comes from the former owner Count Heinrich von Silberberg. By marrying into the family of the Lords of Leibnitz, Count Heinrich von Silberberg came to the site of today's winegrowing school in 1331. In the last third of the 19th century, the harmful fungus downy mildew and phylloxera also reached Styria and destroyed many vineyards. In 1895, the Styrian Provincial Parliament purchased the property for 19,000 guilders to develop measures and further training in order to establish a provincial vineyard and a training centre for the region's winegrowers.
Styrian provincial winery Silberberg
During the First Republic (1918-1938), economically distressed businesses were taken over by the Province of Styria and continued to be managed as provincial estates. Silberberg is divided into the fruit and viticulture school and the provincial winery. One of the inspection centres for the state inspection number is also located at Silberberg.
The five Styrian estates Silberberg, Kitzeck, Schlossberg, Remschnigg and Glanz were merged in 1985 to form the "Steiermärkische Landesweingut Silberberg" and a new white wine cellar was also built. Oenologist Reinhold Holler, cellar master Klaus Fischer and master winemaker Johann Schwarz are responsible for the operation. The picture shows the site of the technical college Silberberg with all the outbuildings such as the school, boarding school, winery and workshops. Above it are the Glaser and Steinbruch vineyards.
Vineyards
The vineyards cover around 26 hectares of vines, 90% of which are planted with the white wine varieties Welschriesling, Sauvignon Blanc,Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay(Morillon), Muscat, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Rivaner (Müller-Thurgau), Muscaris and Souvignier Gris, and 10% with the red wine varieties Zweigelt and Cabernet Jura. The vineyards are cultivated close to nature without the use of herbicides.
In the Meletin vineyard in Leutschach an der Weinstraße, organic viticulture is carried out according to the rules of ECOVIN and annual inspections by Austria Bio Garantie. Organic red and white wines are grown here on Opok soils. A speciality at Großlage Sausal are ten hectares of small terraces, which are cultivated using a specially developed steep-slope cultivation model. Artificial irrigation systems (drip irrigation) have been installed on some of the terraces to support the young vineyards.
Product range
Only grapes from our own vineyards are pressed. The product range is divided into three lines. The "classic wines" are matured in stainless steel tanks without the use of wood. For strong wines, such as Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Blanc, old wooden barrels are used in the ageing process. The "site wines" from the Sausal around Kitzeck from the Steinbruch (classic in stainless steel tanks), Trebien (large wooden barrel) and Annaberg (used large wooden barrel) sites are matured separately. The "B.o.S." line = BEST OF Silberberg (barrique) is only produced in special years.
The red wines are matured in the red wine cellar in 300-litre barriques or large wooden barrels. Bottle-fermented sparkling wines, frizzante (sparkling wines), sweet chestnuts (chestnuts), fruit juices, vinegar, oil, verjus and fine brandies (marc, wine, fruit, rowanberry, medlar, walnut, etc.) are also produced and marketed in the estate's own shop. In 1995, a 1.5 kilometre long educational wine trail was built through the school vineyard.
Other activities
Guided tours and commented wine tastings for groups, hikes along the wine trail through the school vineyards and seminars in cooperation with the Austrian Wine Academy are also offered. The management of the Seggau Episcopal Wine Cellar was taken over in 2020.
