We are proud to represent some of the most exciting wine and spirits producers in the world.

 

With an emphasis on smaller production Central and Eastern European wine estates, Glass Half Empty aims to connect distinctive products with discerning customers. Many of our suppliers use organic or bio-dynamic farming practices and believe in minimal intervention throughout the entire process.

We are passionate about our partners and committed to sharing their stories, their values and their products. Our hope is that you’ll love them as much as we do.

[order here]

 

Florian Schuhmann heads up Quantum Winery in Weinviertel, an area just north of Vienna known historically for producing unremarkable industrial scale wines. However, after convincing some local vineyard owners to move 100% to bio-dynamics and tireless trying to capture the unique character of every row of grapes, Schuhmann has started to make truly stunning wines.

His process of constantly challenging and reinventing himself is best summed up by the fact that every year he changes all his labels for all his wines. It’s a lot of work but it allows him to wholly express the uniqueness of each wine in each vintage.

When I met Peter Wetzer for the first time, it was 8:47am on a Saturday and his fingers were already caked in black soil from working in the vineyard. In fact, I got the impression he was never too far from his grapes. Wetzer watches his wines like a hawk, doing nearly everything by hand, from weeding the vineyards to waxing the bottle tops.

He is one of a handful of talented young wine makers committed to rebuilding Sopron’s reputation as one of the most important wine producing areas along the Austrian-Hungarian border.

[order here]

Bence Szilágyi is the driving force behind Grand Vin de Barnag, crafting low intervention wines in the Balaton Uplands of Hungary.

With only a few vintages under his belt, Bence continues to push the boundaries of Hungarian wine. Whether he is bottling a snappy riesling-based Pet Nat (the first in this area of the Balaton region) or producing the first Hungarian “Brutal” wine from a vineyard that was left for dead, his wines continue to impress. They are often only made in minuscule quantities so when they show up, don’t hesitate… you might not get another chance!

[order here]

Bio-dynamic farming. Zero additives. Just grapes and terroir. That is a Hummel wine.

Horst Hummel’s unapologetic wines ooze character and never compromise. From his deceptively complex ‘village level’ Nagytótfalu Portugieser to the layer-upon-layer of aromatics and flavors in his extended skin contact Hárslevelü named Góré, all of his wines are made to highlight the unique characteristics of the varietal and the vineyard site.

[order here]

Somló is Hungary’s smallest wine region but also one of its most unique. The prehistoric volcanic soil contains tremendous levels of basalt and limestone, giving the white wines a subtle smokiness and beautiful minerality. Tamás Kis works with the varietals that best communicate this terroir, including Juhfark, a grape rarely found outside of this unique part of the world.

He has cobbled together a patchwork of small vineyards (sometimes only a few rows at a time) over many years, slowly converting them to bio-dynamic methods. These wines, while enjoyable young, continue to improve with age.

[order here]