Distillery Farthofer

A - 3362 Öhling 35 Mostviertel, Lower , Austria T: +43 7475 536 74 M: [email protected] www.mostelleria.at

1. The Region The gentle hilly countryside and the mild climate make the so-called ‚Mostviertel’ in an area of great charm. The area, whose name is synonymous with the production of fermented juice of apples and pears, lies south of the river between and Vienna. The countryside is characterized by the great number of meadows on which 300.000 pear trees grow. The Mostviertel provides a contrast to nearly all other -producing areas in the world. Here cider is made not from apples, but rather from a wide variety of pears—different species, shapes and flavors of pear. Josef Farthofer and Doris Hausberger have been running the Farthofer Distillery in this gentle and tranquil countryside since 2003 and represent the fifth generation of distillers.

Many hundreds of thousands of pear trees characterize the Mostviertel countryside © Mostviertel Tourismus

2. The Entrepreneur Josef Farthofer’s enthusiasm for fruit production showed itself at an early age. As a lad, he experimented with fruit juices of all kinds, worked with his father to produce pear and apple cider and tried his hand at distilling schnapps. With his natural sense of curiosity, pioneer spirit and an inclination to perfectionism, he tried out more and different types of spirits, expertise he reinforced with further training at specialist courses. He quickly developed his credo, namely all spirits which were then available on the market in conventional quality should be produced according to the most demanding organic principles. He is a „Bio-neer“ who places great importance on a careful selection of raw materials, a rapid and gentle method of production and maturation process ensuring a fully-rounded taste. His partner, Doris Hausberger, also from the Mostviertel and a trained cider and spirits sommelier has been working with him since 2008 operating in the marketing and development sections of the company. Doris is also responsible for management and tastings in their so-called „Mostelleria,“ a permanent exhibition of everything connected with cider production where visitors can also purchase many different cider and cider-related products.

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Everything pears! As they say in the Mostviertel. This leading “Mostello“ produce is made up of regional pear varieties and the best organic pear brands © Manfred Horvath

3. The ‚Mostelleria’ The rapid growth of the business forced a move away from their original premises which were too small. In 2010, they found a period building in Öhling near Amstetten used for over 100 years to press fruit which became their new and beautiful business home. This is a historic and listed building, the cellar house, dating from 1874 and once owned by a local businessman who was also a successful cider farmer. It was renovated with careful attention to detail by architects from South Tyrol and now houses the production areas, storage area for maturing and a showroom plus sales area. Private accommodation completes the picture. Every year, 10,000 visitors mainly from German-speaking areas, come to enjoy the Mostelleria experience. (Opening hours: April – October: Wednesday – Saturday 10 AM – 12 noon, 1 PM – 5 PM, November – March: Wednesday- Friday 10 AM – 12 noon, 1 PM – 5 PM Saturday 10 AM – 12 noon. Outside normal opening by telephone arrangement.

In the listed Mostelleria buildings there are to be found distilleries, ripening cellars and show and sell rooms

4. The Distillery Located in the Mostelleria, the distillery operates as a so-called „fully bonded distillery“, which is the biggest and most comprehensive of the four Austrian distilling rights. It belongs to the category of Austria’s medium-large distilleries but offers a very wide product palette regarding schnapps, liqueurs and spirits of the finest organic quality. Josef Farthofer cultivates most of the fruit himself or otherwise buys in fruit from local famers in the immediate vicinity. All of his products have something in common, namely they produce a smooth and gentle flavor on the palate. The secret lies in the water which comes from a private spring in the Mühlviertel in . Apart from the use of first class raw materials and fresh water, the most important factor is rapid and pure production process.

5. The Product Range The range of products has grown continuously over the years and now offers an attractive choice of high quality schnapps, spirits and liqueurs. The flagship products are those which are made from types of pears found only in the Mostviertel. The centre piece of production is MOSTELLO, a patented and unique creation of Josef Farthofer. The high quality O-series found its way into the exclusive segment of gastronomy, specifically bars, and various spirits and

www.wine-partners.at liqueurs complete the product palette in the area of organic food retail shops and directly to individual customers.

• More than 40 different organic brandies and organic liqueurs • Original creation Mostello (tastes like Port but made of pear cider and pear brandy) • O-Serie (O=organic) consisting of O-Vodka, O-Gin and O-Rum • Various Vodka projects such as KABUMM: Vodka with Sido, the rapper • Whiskies (wheat, barley, oat) • Various spirits and liqueurs

Left: KABUMM, Austrian-German vodka project with Sido, the rapper. Right: Farthofer with his highly remunerated O-Vodka

6. Organic and Sustainable Production For Doris and Josef, ‘organic’ does not confine itself to a choice of raw materials and seasonings, but rather concerns the entire production process. Their distillery is energy-self-sufficient: they grow their own Miscanthus (elephant grass), and the leftover heat from the burning thereof is injected into the public municipal network – it supplies schools, fire stations and nurseries – and of course they use green energy. In Josef’s parental enterprise, a few kilometres away from the Farthofer distillery, a photovoltaic system has been installed. There, specially “effective microorganisms” (EMs) are mixed in with the distillations’ residues. After these residues are well exploited in the neighbouring biogas plant, they are distributed onto the fields and meadows, thereby engendering better plant and soil health. And at the premises of the source from which Josef Farthofer obtains his valuable drinking water, a nature project with the WWF has already been going for 20 years.

7. Awards The commitment of the Mostviertel couple has not gone unnoticed. Since 2005, Josef Farthofer and Doris Hausberger have been members of the exclusive club of the ‘Cider Quarter Barons’ (www.mostbarone.at). About 20 of its members maintain and advance the culture of cider made from fermented perries in the Lower Austrian Mostviertel. In 2008 the Farthofer Distillery was nominated for the nation-wide Climate Protection Award. In November 2013 the couple were awarded the Lower Austrian Tourism Prize in the category „Innovation“ for their work in connection with the Mostelleria. And every year, more and more both national and international prizes for their outstanding brandies and liqueurs flow in, with their O-Vodka and O-Gin leading the way.

8. Press contact Wine&Partners, Brigitte Riener, Peter-Jordan-Strasse 6/3, A – 1190 Vienna, Austria T: +43 1 369 79 90 23, E: [email protected] www.wine-partners.at

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