May Wines has set itself the task of bringing outstanding producers with a clear focus on France together under one roof and presenting them as effectively as possible on the Austrian market. The focus of our import portfolio is Burgundy & the Rhône, with additions from Champagne, the Loire, Languedoc-Roussillon, Bordeaux, the Mosel and California.

Our motto Wine with Passion is lived here. We know all of our partner winegrowers personally and visit them at regular intervals. On one hand to gain a sense of the vintages, on the other to remain up to date and to follow any changes at the estates directly. Tasting with the growers in particular is essential to understanding what they want to express through their wines.

Estates we import

Small volumes and discreet marketing

A number of estates in our portfolio work with very small volumes and high demand. It is therefore not always possible to make all wines available without restriction. Our ambition, however, remains to deliver the best possible offering for our customers on the Austrian market.

Availability and allocation

If you cannot find an estate’s wines on our website, there may be several reasons:

• The wines are already sold out
• or are sold exclusively by allocation. We list these as “allocation”.
• Some estates deliberately avoid an online presence. We list these as “on request”.

In these cases we are happy to send you a current price list in person. We circulate our import-portfolio booklet twice a year via newsletter, and on request also as a printed edition. Interested? Sign up for our newsletter.

Which wine styles do we represent?

We are convinced: for every wine there is an appropriate occasion, provided the quality is right. And fortunately, tastes differ. What ties all the wines in our range together is origin, our quality demand in philosophy and winemaking, and their clear expression of style and character. We see diversity not as a contradiction but as an invitation to discover.

So you will find with us equally fine-meshed, light-footed Rieslings from the Ruwer and a Condrieu from the northern Rhône with power and exotic aromatics. Even within a single grape variety a broad stylistic spectrum opens up. Take Pinot Noir: often perceived as a lightweight, it in fact shows an impressive range. In Burgundy in particular, the spectrum runs from hedonistic, fruit-forward, dense wines to elegant, precise Pinots with cool freshness and fine structure.

For us, the “perfect wine” is always an interplay of many factors: the occasion, the people one shares it with, the food, the mood or simply the weather. Whether Old World or New, light-footed or powerful, white or red: all of that recedes once the quality and the moment are right.

Top quality can also be affordable.

From Bourgogne or Côtes du Rhône through to Grand Cru and the top sites of the northern Rhône, the range of possibilities is wide. For us, great names need not necessarily be expensive. That is why with some producers we often steer customers towards the supposedly “simpler” wines. After all, they bear the same signature as the top sites and offer an equally authentic introduction to the house style. And in some years these wines are even more accessible earlier.

Although this view is not undisputed, we are convinced: the human being is a substantial influence on terroir. Their decisions decisively shape the character of a wine — from pruning through cover-cropping in the vineyards to the timing of the harvest and the type of élevage in the cellar. Quality does not arise from site and climate alone but always also from experience, attitude and the fine instinct of those who accompany the wine.

Personal encounters that endure

It is the memories that write the stories: the first visit to Coche-Dury — the anticipation and respect for what is to come and what one has already valued for decades. The ancient casks at Auguste Clape or Château Rayas. A chat at Henri Bonneau with a 1990 Réserve des Célestins in the glass, accompanied by pata negra.

Or the annual grandes finales at Dauvissat, Chevillon, Duroché, Gonon and Jamet, where one’s expertise is put to the test with a mature bottle: how mature is the wine? Which site is it? Are we reading it correctly — or are we wide of the mark? (Fortunately the latter has not happened so far.)

These moments shape our understanding and our passion for great wines — and that is precisely what we want to pass on.