text: Szigeti (pronounced ZIG-it-ee) was part of the new wave of Austrian sparkling wine producers in the 1990s who focused on high-quality, traditional method Sekt. The company began in 1991 when brothers Peter and Norbert Szigeti took over the family business in the village of Gols. Norbert trained in enology and worked in a large sparkling wine firm in Vienna, while Peter completed hotel management school and worked both in Austria and abroad. Peter bought out his brother's shares in 2018 and is now the sole proprietor of the winery. Szigeti operates as a négociant, buying fruit from contracted growers and owning no vineyards. A broad range of wines are produced, all by the traditional method, and all made in fresh style with clear varietal expression.
  Location of Vineyard
  Szigeti produces wine from contracted growers in Burgenland and Niederösterreich and works closely with their partners to obtain grapes explicitly grown to produce quality sparkling wine. Varietal wines, such as the Grüner Veltliner Brut, are sourced from multiple vineyards in the Burgenland region, while specialty bottlings, like the “Adele” Blanc de Blancs, come from more defined areas. At the top of their production is a series of Sekt sourced from specific terroirs called “Terroir Exclusiv.” These include wines like the Riesling Spitzer Graben Brut, a sparkling wine that reflects its Wachau origin. The designation "Österreichischer Sekt g.U." (Austrian Sekt with Protected Designation of Origin) applies to the entire production.
  Winemaking Philosophy
  All Szigeti sparkling wines are produced by the traditional method with the second fermentation in the bottle. For Szigeti, the traditional method must not trump the integrity of the fruit. In other words, the dominant perfumes and flavors of the wines should be of the variety, and should not be masked at all by the yeasty, fermentative flavors of secondary fermentation in the bottle. Fermentation occurs using only Champagne yeasts and dosages are prepared using local sweet wines. Szigeti crafts sparkling wine from a dozen different varieties and the hallmark of each is clear varietal expression.