WEINGUT KEGLEY & LEXER

The stunning stone and timber structure blends into the vernacular architecture of the region, but inside reveals an upper floor restaurant and a lower-floor event space and tasting room clad in massive stone blocks salvaged from a demolished bridge. The wine cellar itself was designed with an open plan, anticipating the founders’ vision for growth. It was also organized as a gravity cellar – from the arrival of fruit to the fermentation vessels, no pumps are used to transport the evolving wine, resulting in the gentlest handling possible of the estate’s Pinot Noir, Zweigelt, and white varietals.

Most of Sem and Georg’s wines are made as single-vineyard bottlings from their Leiten vineyards surrounding the winery, the America vineyard near Karnburg, or their newest vineyard Leonhardweide near Stegendorf, where the pair have begun to experiment with exclusively PIWI varieties. With a restaurant and a cellar married as they are, the wines are clearly designed to complement food and good company.