Named for the wandering Sumerian planet that travels in the opposite direction from every other body in the cosmos, Nibiru declares its counter-cultural intentions before the first bottle is opened. Josef Schenter and Julia Nather run the domaine from the quiet village of Thurneustift in the northernmost corner of Austria's Kamptal region.
Backstory
Josef grew up on his family's farm, which has been in the Kamptal for three generations. His father converted the property to wine production and Josef trained as a winemaker both in Austria and abroad, including a harvest stint in South Africa where he met Julia. She came from southern Germany with a background in hospitality and agriculture, specializing in orcharding. They launched Nibiru together in 2015, building toward Demeter biodynamic certification, which they completed in 2022.
The Region
Kamptal lies in Lower Austria northwest of Vienna, where the Kamp river cuts through a landscape of terraced hills and diverse rock types. The northern end of the valley, where Thurneustift sits, is cooler and less famous than the Langenlois heartland to the south, but its geologically complex soils produce wines with striking mineral tension. The region is best known for Riesling and Gruner Veltliner, and Nibiru plants both with conviction.
Vineyards & Farming
The estate covers 8 hectares across sites with notably varied geology: quartz, decomposed primary rock, amphibolite, gneiss, loess, loam, schist, feldspar, rose quartz, and mica schist all feature. Grapes include Riesling, Gruner Veltliner, Zweigelt, Blauer Portugieser, Muller-Thurgau, Gelber Muskateller, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir. All fruit is hand-harvested.
Winemaking
Fermentation is spontaneous throughout, including malolactic. Wines spend six to twelve months on fine lees, with some cuvees aging three or more years before release. Vessels include stainless steel, neutral barrels, and large-format old wood from 500 to 3,000 liters. Sulfur additions are minimal and assessed wine by wine, typically applied once in winter at around 20 mg/L or not at all. Everything is bottled unfined and unfiltered.
The Wines
The Tradition White and Tradition Red are approachable blended entry points in one-liter format. The Grundstein series goes deeper into single-variety expression, with separate Gruner Veltliner and Riesling bottlings from the estate's primary rock sites. A Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature and a Gemischter Satz field blend round out a portfolio that rewards patience and temperature control in equal measure.
