Gut Oggau was founded in 2007 when Eduard Tscheppe and Stephanie Tscheppe-Eselböck restored a winery dating from the 1600s and its surrounding vineyards, which had been abandoned for 20 years. That fortuitous neglect left the soils free of chemical residues and ready for immediate biodynamic conversion. Today the estate is Demeter certified across roughly 25 hectares on the western shore of Lake Neusiedl, farmed with cover crops, sheep and horses, and vinified without additions, fining or filtration.

The genius of Gut Oggau is the family. Each wine is given the name of a fictional family member and artist Jung von Matt draws a face for each label. The children, Atanasius, Theodora and Winifred, come from younger vines and yield lighter, more energetic wines. The parents, Joschuari, Emmeram, Timotheus and Josephine, come from sites with more direct sun exposure, producing wines with more body and power. The grandparents, Mechthild and Bertholdi, are from the oldest vines and deliver the most structured and traditional expressions.

Timotheus sits squarely in the parents' tier. A blend of Grüner Veltliner and Weissburgunder from 40-year-old vines on limestone, slate and gravel soils, one third of the grapes ferment on skins for three weeks while the rest are direct-pressed and blended back. Spontaneous fermentation and a twelve-month élevage in used 500-litre barrels follow, with no batonnage, no fining, no filtration and zero sulphur added.

Timotheus is a wry, slightly bitter and intellectual white blend with an impressive stature. He is the steady hand of the family, a wine that does not need to shout to make a lasting impression, humming with citrus oil, dried herbs, crushed stone and a whisper of orchard fruit. At eleven years old the 2014 offers something the younger vintages simply cannot. A fully resolved secondary complexity has developed where fruit and skin tannins have knit together into something seamless. This is a wine built for the cellar and this bottle proves it. Decant for thirty minutes and let it unfold.