Thurgau, Switzerland
Michael Broger Weinbau
In 2003, Swiss winemaker Michael Broger began fulfilling the dream of making his own wine. Wine lovers have been taking increasing notice ever since. Broger calls his sustainable, biodynamic approach ‘broger-dynamisch’, producing wines that embrace the individual character of every vintage.
Michael Broger’s interest in winegrowing stemmed at an early age from his love of nature. After training as a wine technologist and working in Switzerland and abroad, Broger jumped at the chance to purchase a small farmhouse and surrounding vineyard land on the Ottenberg hill in 2003. His main grape varieties – Blauburgunder (Pinot Noir) and Müller-Thurgau – are traditional Thurgau staples.
Natural farming methods
To preserve his vineyard soils, Broger works the steep slopes by hand and with manually operated machinery. He only sprays his vines with natural, organic preparations. The entire vineyard ecosystem is based on biodynamic principles, even though Broger eschews certification. All the winemaking is decidedly low-tech and takes place in Broger’s own cellar. The vinification process is as minimalist as possible, to ensure that every wine is a faithful reflection of the vintage in question.
‘Broger-dynamisch’
Broger, an inquisitive soul, decided to embark on an experiment shortly after starting out on his own. What began more as a crazy, spur-of-the-moment thing than an attempt to emulate the natural-wine scene culminated in Broger’s first-ever zero-sulphur, spontaneously fermented Pinot Noir, made the old-school way without pumping or filtering. This was the first wine in his ‘broger-dynamisch’ collection, which he expanded in 2018 to include a Müller-Thurgau as well as a village-level Pinot Noir from Weinfelden raised in a polyethylene fermentation egg. All ‘broger-dynamisch’ wines are analysed by an external laboratory and contain less than 10 mg/l of sulphur.
“Less is more when it comes to authenticity and terroir expression. The vagaries of the weather also mean that every year is different.”
Michael Broger
