Dorli Muhr: With 98 points, the world's top red wine!

Dorli Muhr: With 98 points, the world's top red wine!

On July 17, 2025, a significant milestone was reached for the Dorli Muhr winery in Carnuntum. Their Blaufränkisch Ried Spitzerberg Obere Spitzer 1ÖTW 2022 received an outstanding 98 points from the renowned Robert Parker Wine Advocate. This rating represents the highest award ever given to a domestic red wine in Austria. Critic Stephan Reinhardt describes this wine as “full-bodied, silky and very elegant” and highlights floral aromas as well as complex notes of toast and tobacco, complemented by a salty spice. The wine owes these special properties to the unique soil conditions on the Spitzerberg, which is characterized by barren limestone soil and constant wind, which leads to the creation of elegant, profound wines.

Dorli Muhr, who founded the winery in 2002 with the goal of producing 500 bottles of wine for friends, has since become a significant player in the wine world. In recent years she has bought steep plots of land on Spitzerberg that some have dismissed as crazy. Today she manages twelve hectares of vineyards with a lot of manual work and individual care for each vine. This is all done in accordance with organic practices, which are also fermented in the cellar using gentle working methods without pumps and with a traditional treadle wheel.

High ratings and rich variety

The impressive 98-point rating is not the only success for Muhr. Other wines from their range were also highly praised: “Obere Roterd” received 97 points, “Liebkind” scored 96 points, while the wines “Ried Spitzerberg” and “Prellenkirchen Samt & Seide” received 95 and 91+ points. Dorli Muhr's wines are now represented in 24 countries, especially in high-end restaurants.

Particularly noteworthy is Dorli Muhr's philosophy, which emphasizes that high harvest yields cannot be beneficial for Blaufränkisch. The single-vineyard wines mature over a period of three years, of which they spend two years in barrels and one in the bottle. This careful method ensures that the wines are long-lasting, fresh and with a moderate alcohol content and are considered excellent representatives of the Austrian winemaking tradition.

An important basis for wine production in the winery is biodynamic viticulture, which is also becoming increasingly important in Austria. This cultivation technique, based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, emphasizes the connection between humans, nature and the cosmos. Biodynamic viticulture uses special preparations made from natural materials and also takes lunar and planetary cycles into account during cultivation and harvest. In Austria, there was a total of 1,444 hectares of biodynamically managed wine-growing area in 2022, which accounts for around 15% of the organically cultivated area. The Demeter seal is a well-known symbol for such certified companies.

Thanks to the high quality standards and innovative cultivation methods, the Spitzerberg has taken a firm place among the great vineyards of Europe in the Austrian wine landscape. The success of Dorli Muhr shows that Austrian wines can also attract international attention. Further details about the winery can be found on the website Vivino.