Winemaker
Hartmut Aubell
- Discipline
- Winemaker
- Based in
- Ehrenhausen, Austria
i. Biography
Southern Styria is the ground note in Hartmut Aubell’s work: white wines, natural wild yeast, cloudy textures, fruit flavor, and a finish that stays after the glass is set down. At Der Rebenhof – Hartmut Aubell in Ehrenhausen, Austria, he has worked as winemaker since 2008, after returning to his soil and beginning his first vintage in 2007. The cellar language is spare rather than cosmetic: healthy vines, restored soil, native fermentations, and bottles that do not depend on polish.
The Estate
"I have been running our winery, the Rebenhof, since 2008; he has been family-owned since 1924, but I am the first winemaker in our family." That sentence carries the family line and the rupture inside it: the property reaches back to 1924, yet Aubell became the first winemaker in the family. His career history is also tied to Weingut Rebenhof in Ratsch an der Weinstraße, Austria, keeping the work close to the southern Styrian places attached to the name. A decisive change came in 2013, when Aubell took up biodynamic farming to restore the soil and keep the vines healthy. The estate is certified biodynamic and organic, and biodynamic wines are its specialty under the Weingut Rebenhof Hartmut Aubell name in Ratsch an der Weinstraße. At Rebenhof in Ottenberg, Austria, the work includes unsulphured biodynamic wines sold in reusable bottles.
In the Cellar
The cellar choices are direct. Aubell’s winemaking avoids enzymes, pure yeasts, sugar, and fining agents, leaving fermentation and texture to carry more of the wine’s identity. Natural wild yeast is central to the wines, which have been described as extremely clean and well made. Another description places them in a more tactile register: well crafted, full of fruit flavor, sometimes funky, often cloudy, low in alcohol, and marked by a lingering finish. Nothing in that approach suggests a single fixed appearance in the glass. Clarity can give way to cloudiness; fruit can sit beside funk; the finish can carry longer than the alcohol level might suggest. The point is not addition, but refusal: no enzymes, no pure yeasts, no sugar, no fining agents.
The Bottlings
The 2007 Morillon Herrenberg Silt is a Southern Styria white wine made from Chardonnay and rated 92 points by Falstaff. It belongs to the first-vintage period, the moment when Aubell’s return to his soil became bottled work. The 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, another white wine from Southern Styria, was rated 91 Falstaff points in 2009. In the timeline of the estate, it sits just after he began running the winery and gives a dated marker for the quality of those early releases. Maischevergoren adds another face to the range: an orange natural wine made by Weingut Rebenhof - Hartmut Aubell. It fits the broader language of the cellar, where wild yeast, low intervention, and biodynamic farming shape the wine before any label or score enters the conversation.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Hartmut
What style or method defines Hartmut Aubell's work?
Biodynamic farming, natural wild yeast, and winemaking without enzymes, pure yeasts, sugar, or fining agents define his method.
What are Hartmut Aubell's signature releases or dishes?
His signature releases include the 2007 Morillon Herrenberg Silt, the 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, and Maischevergoren.
What is Hartmut Aubell known for making?
He is known for biodynamic wines, including unsulphured biodynamic wines sold in reusable bottles.
