What a party! Once a year, respekt celebrates large. That's our St John’s Day Celebration, an important biodynamic weather prediction day around the summer solstice. Among other things, no mowing should take place before then, so that all the grasses and plants can go to seed and the biodiversity is guaranteed.

This year, respekt deputy chairman Fred Loimer https://www.loimer.at/ invited guests to his very personal time travel celebration in Kamptal. "100-60-25-15" was the title of this year's respekt St John’s Day Fest. In addition to 100 years of biodynamics, we celebrated the 60th birthday of our host, 25 years of the Fred Loimer winery at this location, and 15 years of respekt certification. The illustrious crowd of guests came from all around the world to taste, celebrate, and dance with Fred and us until dawn.

Wine contingent. Our winemakers took their own very personal wine “journeys in time”, pouring one of their wines from each of five different vintages - some of them dating back to the 1990s - as part of a table presentation in Fred's cool cellar. What a great selection!

The two masterclasses by Master of Wine and biodynamics expert Romana Echensperger https://romana-echensperger.de/ were also fantastic. She led us twice through 100 years of biodynamics with a view into the future. Twice, so that every winery could present a wine. After all, we already have 36 member wineries! Incidentally, both masterclasses were fully booked in no time. Seeing such interest brought us great pleasure! As always, Romana's presentations were informative, witty, and amusing at the same time.

As it was at this year’s VieVinum, the big discussion topic was: "We all know viniculture is facing major challenges in the face of climate change. Can biodynamic viniculture alone be the solution, or will it reach its limits at some point? Can PIWI varieties, new breeds, and adjusted vineyard and water management withstand the new trials? Or will biodynamics also have to think outside the box and embrace completely new methods?" Some answers were provided on the basis of the wines, some questions had to remain unanswered. Only the future will tell!

» Masterclass_respekt-johanni2024_EN.pdf © Romana Echensperger

» Masterclass_respekt-johanni2024_DT.pdf © Romana Echensperger

The pleasure of time travel. A circle of friends provided a worthy and delightful ambience to the celebration: Celebrity chefs Roland Huber from Esslokal in Hadersdorf https://www.facebook.com/esslokal.hadersdorf/, Klemens Schraml from RAU in Großraming https://www.im-rau.com/ and Josef Floh from Der Floh in Langenlebarn https://www.derfloh.at/ cooked up a feast, David Gölles https://www.goelles.at/ brought his schnapps and Van Nahmen his fruit juices https://www.vannahmen.de/. It was completely delicious!

As always at the respekt St John’s Day Fest, the midsummer bonfire was lit at sunset. It was a wonderful moment that encouraged the guests to dance to the groovy sounds that lasted until dawn. Luckily, their hotels were within walking distance, and a cooling stroll finally left them ready for bed.

Thank you to all our partners for their participation, and to all the guests for joining in the celebration! It was great! #respektJohnanni #respektfriends #biodynamicwinemaking

Our partners:
Brauschneider ･ Romana Echensperger MW ･ Band Jonas Gillinger ･ Band Harald Haslinger ･ Roland Huber & Esslokal ･ Josef Flo & Der Floh･ Andreas Hofer Photography ･ Gölles ･ HLF Krems ･ Höllerschmid  ･naber･  Klemens Schraml & Im Rau ･ Point of View / Film ･ DJ Marco Prokopetz ･ Van Nahmen ･ Vöslauer ･ Zalto

Fotocredits: © respekt-BIODYN | Impressions: AndreasHofer. Visits to the wineries: © respekt-BIODYN | private. You are welcome to use the photos for private purposes, for commercial use with credit mention. If you need a high-resolution photo, please send an e-mail to johanni@respekt-biodyn.bio