Domaine le roc des anges, roussillon
WEINGUT MARTIN & ANNA ARNDORFER, Kamptal
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- THE BURGENLAND WEINGUT JUDITH BECK, GOLS, Burgenland – Biodynamic
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WEINGUT MARTIN & ANNA ARNDORFER, Kamptal The Arndorfer watchword is origin. Martin & Anna also believe that the role of the vigneron is crucial – artisanship thus is the combination of creativity, sensitivity and personality. “Origin for us though is restricted to the vineyard and the vines. The vines soak up the vigour of the soil and their surroundings and give the grapes their unmistakable character based on their origin. Even though we do not feel bound by tradition, we want to emphasise that the influence of the vineyard is crucial to our philosophy. We are convinced that it is impossible to make two wines exactly the same if the grapes come from different vineyards, regions or countries.” We think that the most important part of the vineyard is life and balance. Both things are very closely connected with our soils and the work/management we do with the soil. There are lot of little animals and partly very big mycelium in the soil which help the vine to get water and nutrients, but they need their “home” and food. So in our viticulture we try to provide them what they need so they will provide our vines what they need… if we assault our vines (fertilizer and herbicide) we will not have life and balance in our soil. They have created different ranges to capture various distinctive yet essential truths behind their vineyards and the grape varieties. We begin with Vorsgeschmack (Foretaste), a symbiosis of the two star grapes of the Kamptal. Martin and Anna describe the wine as the beginning of a friendly talk, the prelude to a meal and the gateway to simple pleasure. A blend of 80% Grüner and 20% Riesling with the former from clay on loess soils raised in old barrels, whilst the Riesling is from old vines on primary rock but with an early pick to preserve freshness this fruity and floral white is then fermented in stainless steel. Indigenous yeast ferments are used for all the wines. The wine is balanced, the Riesling give a little aromatic zip to the solidity of the Grüner. Strasser Weinberge is the next range, comprising a Grüner and a Riesling. These wines are, in effect, vineyard reserves from the best vineyards in Strass. The Gruner is based on grapes selected from three vineyards: Strasser Gaisberg, Wechselberg and Hasel, each producing grapes which are totally different in style and taste as a result of their diverse soils and microclimates. Thus the final blend “reflects the whole village of Strass in all its complexity and variety”. The Riesling is from Gaisberg and Wechselberg on those particular primary rock soils that confer mineral tones as well as finesse and elegance to the final wine. Certain vineyards are singled out for special treatment. The lesser-seen Roter Veltiner grows in a plot planted in 1979 on the south-western slopes of the Zobinger Gaisberg. Although the variety itself possesses low acidity, a combination of old vines and mineral soils (these being on primary rock) gives lovely textural depth to the wine. Notes of mandarin and honey are unveiled as the wine warms in the glass. Grenzenlos is also a single vineyard, this time from the Strasser Wechselberg, their oldest Grüner vineyard, planted in 1959 on clay soils with gravel and chalk. After five years ageing in stainless steel the wine spends another six months in bottle to relax. This is notably elegant and shows the personality of the grape variety in its most naked form. The upbringing of the wine runs counter to the Arndorfers belief that Grüner prefers a gentle sojourn in oak barrels. Die Leidenschaft, Martin & Anna’s passion line, pushes the boundaries that bit further. The wines are fermented and matured in small barrels without stirring. The Grüner, for example is really spicy and herbal, the stunning Riesling from the cru vineyards with its honeyed golden plum fruit has to be sipped slowly and appreciated. Finally, there is the natural range which reflects the playful side of the vigneron’s nature. Here one tastes a Müller-Thurgau Per Se from old vines grown on primary rock, an aromatic skin-fermented (for 12 days) orange-tinged wine made without filtration or sulphur in stainless barrels. Its companion is a truly wild Grüner (also called Per Se) with 14 days on skins and aged in old barrels with 16 months on the lees. A medicinal wine with notes of wild herbs and fennel. In the spirit of further craziness we tasted a beautiful pale pink wine called Rosa Marie which is Zweigelt fermented on Grüner Veltliner skins, to which the appropriate response is “why not?” 2016
GRUNER VELTLINER HANDCRAFTED W
2016 VORGESCHMACK WHITE W
GRUNER VELTLINER STRASSER WEINBERGE W
2016 RIESLING HANDCRAFTED W
RIESLING STRASSER WEINBERGE W
2015 ROTER VELTLINER VON DEN TERRASSEN 1979 W
GRUNER VELTLINER DIE LEIDENSCHAFT W
2013 RIESLING DIE LEIDENSCHAFT W
MULLER-THURGAU PER SE W
2016 VORGESCHMACK RED R
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FUCHS UND HASE, ARNDORFER & JURTSCHITSCH, Kamptal – Organic Martin & Anna Arndorfer and Alwin & Stefanie Jurtschitsch are good friends from the neighbouring villages of Strass and Langenlois. They spend lots of time together tasting in their cellars and philosophising about wine with beer in hand. One day they decided to do a joint project and so Fuchs und Hase was born. Fuchs und Hase means “fox and hare” after an Austrian saying: “Where fox and hare say good night…” - meaning a very remote place mainly surrounded by forest. In order to make high end cool climate Pet Nat they had to find the most appropriate vineyards, which turned out to be naturally cooler sites at high altitude (they were seeking natural acidity and low alcohol). They selected some small parcels from each of the family vineyards, and, as it happened these sites were all near forests. Hence “Fuchs und Hase They produced six different wines in 2015 by using different grapes from the Kamptal region. In every single wine the grapes began fermentation on the skins together and were bottled whilst still fermenting. The natural bubbles remain captured in the bottle. Fermented with native yeast, no additions, no sulphur, unfiltered - a pure and handcrafted expression of Austrian petillant naturel Volume 4 is Muller-Thurgau (70%) and Gruner Veltliner (30%), the former grown on primary rock soils on very cold vineyard called Merschein in Strass. The Gruner comes from Loiserberg in Langenlois. All the grapes are hand picked and then fermented on skins for 12 days, in whole bunches, mostly free run, before bottling with latent residual sugar. When the secondary fermentation is finished, there is a natural tartaric stabilisation. After inverting the bottles for a couple of days they do manual disgorgment in order to remove the heavy solids. The wine has no filtration, fining or sulphur added. Volume 1 is Muller-Thurgau, Gruner Veltliner and Sauvignon. Made in the same fashion but with the volume turned down. The rosé meanwhile is a blend of Zweigelt and Cabernet Sauvignon. The bubbles are soft and the wine is extremely juicy.
2016 FUCHS UND HASE VOL 1 W/Sp
2015
FUCHS UND HASE VOL 4 W/Sp
2015
FUCHS UND HASE VOL 5 W/Sp
2015
FUCHS UND HASE ROSE Ro/Sp
WEINGUT ANDREAS TSCHEPPE, Steirerland – Biodynamic Andreas is one of a group of five winemakers who work in the same spirit, the others being Franz Strohmeier, his brother Ewald. Sepp Muster & Roland Tauss. Together they form “Schmecke das Lebe.” Andreas has beautiful vineyards bursting with life – you can feel the energy with the riot of plants, herbs and flowers growing amongst the vines. The vines are trained up and down slopes, but also unusually for this region, on terraces across the slopes (making harvesting a bit easier!). Various grapes are cheek-by-jowl: Sauvignon, which ripens later, Chardonnay (known locally as Morillon) Gelbermuskateller (Moscato Giallo) a delightful floral alternative. Produced in tiny quantities, Goldmuskateller, however, is the gold standard with a shimmering array of honey, grapefruit and warm spice. Andreas Tscheppe’s version of this, called Butterfly, is a wonderfully exotic and hedonistic wine. ). Salamander is the name of the Chardonnay. Without the cushion of new oak it displays gentle flavours of waxy citrus, pollen and toasted oatmeal. The Sauvignon has magnificent depth and tension; it is from the cooler of the vineyards enjoying a long growing season and then undergoes its slow fermentation and elevage in large barrels. The wine seems to have a tannic dimension and a brilliant bitter lemon quality with flavours that go on and on. Finally, to the Stagbeetle (the creature that is the motif of the winery) Earthbarell, a blend of Sauvignon and Chardonnay fermented on skins in a big barrel buried deep underground. This amber wine has a dense structure but opens up to reveal both floral and peachy fruit flavours. Tscheppe’s wines are notable for their effortless minerality and relaxed energy. As for the skin contact Schwalbenschwanz from Goldenmuskateller vines brought back from Alto-Adige even Andreas’s friends think this is a crazy wine. For me this was the vinous equivalent of the sweetmeats that Edmund was given by The White Witch when he arrived in Narnia. Exotic, intoxicatingly aromatic, gold to send the senses spinning with pleasure. Segelfalter is 100% Gelber (Yellow) Muskateller. Superbly aromatic yet wild and herbal, with firm-fleshed yellow-leaning-into-gold fruit flavours and bitter quinine notes. Schwalbenschwnaz is an astonishing wine made in tiny quantities (and not every year either). 100% Golden Muskateller, this amber-hued wine spends three weeks on the grape skins in big barrels. The result is fabulously complex – bitter orange, flints, shells and smoke, wild herbs, dry spice and crunchy tannins. Needs carafeing 2015
SALAMANDER ~ Chardonnay W
2015 GREEN DRAGONFLY - Sauvignon W
BLUE DRAGONFLY ~ Sauvignon W
2015 SEGELFALTER~ Gelber Muskateller W
STAGBEETLE ERDFASS EARTHBARELL~ Sauvignon, Chardonnay Or
2015
SCHWALBENSCHWANZ ~ Goldmuskateller Or
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2014
MORILLON Or
2014
BLAUFRANKISCH HOCHEGG R
- 322 - WEINGUT SEPP MUSTER, Steirerland – Biodynamic Sepp and Maria Muster live in a beautiful house at the end of a windy road not far from the small town of Schlossberg. We’re in the southern part of Styria and the hills and woods of Slovenia are easily visible from the road that carves through the vines. The vineyards themselves, at a typical altitude of 450-470 m, are notably rocky with clay and silt soils dominating their steep, hand-worked slopes. The character of the wines stems from this unique location, situated in this “illyric” microclimate with the influence of the Koralpe (the nearby high mountain plateau region), with its cool nights and winds being mainly responsible for the character of the wines. The vines grow on lime soil, composed of solid clay silt, known here as “Opok” which results in warm “dense” wines with intense varietal aroma character. The vines look wild and primitive with their single wire trellising, a reflection of the original method of vine training developed by Sepp’s ancestors’ they rise high along chestnut wood posts and branch out at approximately 1.80 metres height. The one-year canes hang down from the wire as if bending towards the earth. This practice was developed to promote a harvest of physiologically-ripe grapes, the idea being that the energy of the vines goes not into creating a canopy of leaves but into the very fabric of the grapes themselves. Sepp echoes the simple mantra that he does not wish to fashion his wines to any specific style, but rather allow them time and space to reach their own individual potential, referenced through terroir, soil character and vintage. It’s the classic hands-on, hands-off approach, emphasising awareness of tradition and the need for observation, seeking healthy vines to yield healthy grapes, and then allowing the wine to make itself in the cellar with the minimum of fuss. As he says with a smile when we enter the barrel room: “I don’t come in here very often.” The chief preoccupation, as with Franz, Andreas & Ewald, is to build soil and vine vitality by using biodynamic practices. For Sepp this involves the dynamising and spreading of plant, mineral and animal substances and working according the Maria Thun calendar. Cluster thinning is partly naturally generated, partly done by hand, the goal to produce small berries, highly aromatic grape material as the basis for full character and complex wines. The wines represent the overall character of their immediate surroundings. This involves the singularity of the vines, soil, microclimate, people and vineyard location as well as the specific vintage and results in individual, fine and multiple-layered (complex) wines, which over the years, alter in their aromatic structure. The cellaring process is where nature meets time. Spontaneous fermentation (with natural wild yeasts) in large format barrels, no temperature control, naturally occurring malolactic fermentation, nothing added, nothing taken away. The wine is aged (up to two years) to obtain the optimal maturity and harmony of the various flavours.
grown on clay/silt soils towards the bottom of the steep slopes. The wines themselves are fruity with soft mineral character and lively acidic fruit. Sauvignon, Morillon, Welschriesling, Zweigelt, Gelbermuskateller, a white and a red blend and even a Schilcher provide a fantastic and fairly priced introduction to the wines from this region. Sgaminegg comes from the best vineyard of the estate with pure Opok soil, the sparsely-foliaged vines yielding tiny grape clusters (15-20 hl/ha). The winds from the Koralpe play their influence here directly. Sauvignon and Morillon are matured in wooden barrels, blended and bottled after 22 months. The wine has a cool, austere feel as if the very limestone rocks had fermented slowly with the grape juice and released their stony essence into the wine. Finally, Sepp makes two orange wines where the juice is fermented with the skins – and partly with the stems. These skins and stems contain colour pigments, tannins and phenols, which impart the “orange” colour. This can vary according to variety and year from a rich yellow, also pink, to a vibrant orange. The texture is concise, compact, rich in tannin, aromatic and complex.
2015 OPOK ~ Gelber Muskateller, Welschriesling, Sauvignon, Chardonnay W
2015 WELSCHRIESLING W
2014/15 GELBER MUSKATELLER W
GRAF ~ Sauvignon W
2013 ERDE ~ Sauvignon, Chardonnay Or
GRAFIN ~ Sauvignon Or
2012
GRAFIN - magnum Or
2011
SGAMINEGG W
2012 ZWEIGELT R
ROTWEIN ~ Wildbacher, Blaufrankisch, Zweigelt R
2007/11 GRAF ZWEIGELT R
- 323 - THE BURGENLAND
WEINGUT JUDITH BECK, GOLS, Burgenland – Biodynamic Judith Beck’s winery is run as a family business. Since 1976 the area under vine increased from 5 to 15 ha. Most of the vineyards are situated at the Wagram of the Parndorfer Plate, the most important site of the region. And from 2007 Judith has produced wines in accordance with biodynamic principles. The winery is housed in an impressive airy new building in the middle of the vineyards from Gols. Now the emphasis is on refining the style whilst capturing the potential of the grapes. Judith is passionate about the traditional red wine varieties: Blaufränkisch and St. Laurent. She makes the most articulate versions of the latter variety that we tasted on our visit, one called Bambule! which explores the wild side of the grape. Judith is an impressively calm, thoughtful person and that sense of relaxation seems to transmit itself into her wines, which possess a lightness of touch not always apparent in this region. As mentioned several times the focus is on the vine growing. Biodynamics is an art of healing which takes advantage of the holistic curativeness of nature. It aims at strengthening the natural resistance of the plant. Pest and disease control are mainly affected in a prophylactic manner. “We encourage the formation of humus, as a basis of healthy soils, by regularly applying cattle manure which we prepare ourselves and by cultivating grass between the rows. Herbal teas (such as stinging nettle, chamomile, field horsetail …) and biodynamic field sprays such as horn manure and horn silica are used under the consideration of moon rhythms; their purpose being to strengthen resistance and further the physiological ripeness of grapes.” The aim is to produce authentic wines with an individual aroma profile while at the same time maintaining healthy soil and vines. Part of this is also the absence of yeasts. Fermentation of the red wines starts spontaneously (without the help of selected yeasts) in stainless steel tanks or in open wooden casks. Part of the red wine matures in large wooden barrels (1000 to 2000 litres). Judith uses barrels made of third generation acacia wood. This larger format accentuates the clear fruit of Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch; and thus is the ideal vessel. “We believe that wine needs to breathe in order to develop thoroughly; that`s the reason why we do not use stainless steel tanks for maturation at all.” St. Laurent, Pinot Noir, Blaufränkisch Altenberg, Cuvées Pannobile and Judith are matured in classic barriques and 500-litre-barrels as the denser, more structured wines seem to benefit from ageing in small oak barrels. The barrels are meant to support and enhance the characteristics of the wine; the wood influence should however hardly be perceptible and the fruit of the wine should always remain in the foreground. These latter reds mature for between fifteen and twenty-four months in the cellar until the flavours harmonise. 2016
WEISSBURGUNDER W
2015 NEUBURGER BAMBULE! W
MUSKAT BAMBULE! W
2015 ZWEIGELT R
BLAUFRANKISCH R
2015 BECK INK R
BLAUFRANKISCH ALTE LAGEN R
2015 SAINT-LAURENT SCHAFLEITEN R
PANNOBILE R
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