At the end of the 1990s, Lukas Tscheppe’s parents bought a small farm in Fötschach, the next village over from a notable town called Leutschach. Leutschach, along with one or two towns farther west, is at the heart of a notable collective of five vignerons started in 2012 who called themselves “Schmeke das Leben,” or “Taste Life,” a likeminded group of natural producers in the Steiermark, where conventional farming and globally-styled, lean, filtered white wines were the name of the game for decades. This group includes: Maria and Sepp Muster, Andreas Tscheppe, Ewald Tscheppe of Werlistch, Roland Tauss, and Franz Strohmeier. Lukas Tscheppe, who we are happy to present now, is the nephew of three of these producers (Maria, Andreas, and Ewald Tscheppe), all robust and pioneering natural vignerons in this dramatic, sloping and forested, marine-soil-driven region.

Almost immediately after this particular branch of the Tscheppe family bought this small farm in Fötschach, they quickly put in vines. Lukas’ parents decided to use single-wire training in all of the plantations (“high training,” an older-fashioned style of viticulture that used to be far more prevelant in the area). Since then, all of these 3.5ha of vineyards have never seen herbicides or pesticides. The old name of this farm: Rabusella.

Lukas himself completed a traditional winemaking apprenticeship in Silberberg, with the intention of being a grape farmer and supplier in the old sense; for many years he sold Rabusella’s crop to winemaker friends. In 2019, Lukas then decided to keep some of his own grapes to make an initial exploratory vintage of around 1000 bottles; tending the vineyards personally himself and bottling them under the farm’s old. Lukas began with started with one small used barrel (225L) each of Weissburgunder and Sauvignon Blanc. In the immediate next few years that followed, a few thousand bottles per year were added; current production for 2024 will be around 4000 bottles.

As to Lukas’ developing practices and style, he shares that his relationship with his uncles and aunt among the Tscheppes is that they’re like role models to him; he’s particularly close with Ewald of Werlitsch, who is readily at hand for him to ask advice and exchange thoughts and ideas. In practice, Lukas says the first years of vinification and making his own natural wines has been very much about consolidating and developing his skills, here in this hilly, sloping region renowned for its very special renditions of white wines in general. Lukas shares that his decision to transition from just grape farming into natural winemaking was a gradual one, but now not only is he touched by the many beautiful aspects of working in and with nature, but also, “being able to practice a craft like winemaking with your own hands is something fulfilling and beautiful!” For these early issues, the wines in general show great balance, without tilting toward either a sharply linear nor a robust and overweighted style. Though they are unfiltered, their long élevage in barrel renders them all quite clean and clear, not hazy in the glass nor on the palate.

We’re very pleased to introduce these Sauvignon Blancs and Weissburgunders of Lukas from the Rabusella farm to the New York/NJ market, and thus to welcome a new entry into the growing stature and accomplishment of the overall quality of singular wines issuing from the Steiermark.