High sugar levels, which were also stored in the grape juice due to climate change (yes, it actually exists), made the cellar masters, who put fully ripe grapes in the cellar, sometimes quite sweaty. The challenge of creating an optimal taste balance, which on the one hand does justice to the high alcohol content to be expected and on the other hand the low acid values (this is known to provide freshness) was not always very easy.
On the other hand, a large proportion of consumers had come to terms with the “new world” style of wine, in which it was common to bottle red wines with an alcohol content of just under 14.5%. Fruit bombers and chocolatey wines made it easier for these new wine consumers to access wine. Some of the local winegrowers could not and did not want to resist these market conditions and went to the limits of what was feasible with industrial methods. The already mentioned 14.5% (there are usually 15% there anyway) are obligatory, everything in the cellar is “prepared” – superficially accessible wines, vintage differences don’t bother you, everything should taste the same and it does that year after year Year. Commercial products which – and this is admittedly – also have a certain justification on the market.
But now the tide has turned for some time. Wines typical of origin clearly show how the different grape varieties in the different areas have an incomparable taste profile. Significantly less alcohol, taste profile rich in finesse depending on origin, not broad and fat on the palate, but with length and sensory characteristics typical of the variety. Instead of barriques (those are the small barrels), aging in wooden containers from 500 liters and more. Simply wines with lightness, variety and excitement, filigree and yet well structured. For Johannes Hirsch, the successful Kamptal winemaker, only natural spontaneous yeasts are suitable for fermentation and he says: “When fermentation is over, then it’s like that, no one intervenes anymore, I just have a little less alcohol and a well-rounded one instead And to quote the great Gols winemaker Gerhard “Pitti” Pittnauer: “Great wines don’t need a lot of alcohol!”
Eisenberg’s shooting star Thom Wachter follows this philosophy down to the smallest detail. Even his grandfather said that the wine had to be “savory and sticky”! Thom addresses the difference between physiological maturity and physiological overmaturity when it comes to reading timing. He would rather harvest a week early than three weeks late. Of course, he uses the weather as a guide when working with the foliage. If it is dry and hot, the outer leaves hang like a parasol, if the weather is rather rainy and humid, the leaves come off immediately so that the berries can dry quickly. I need a crisp skin and a green core. You just have to go through the gardens more often. Too high sugar levels are not his goal, that would just lead to high alcohol. His classic wines are 12.5% alcohol. In the case of single vineyard wines, it hardly goes beyond 13%. “If I chew five berries, I have the same tannin content in my mouth that the finished wine later brings with it”. He also ferments spontaneously in his cellar and only slightly sulphurizes it after ten months. The result: Fine Blaufränkisch that almost appear burgundy on the palate. Fine, slim and rich in finesse with a wonderful, elegant finish. Cries that have just been treated with foil and not with the sword!
more from wine blog
Sparkling wine from Austria – a success story
A little wine review of the year
Bernhard Ernst – serious work with and not from nature
Weingut Stadt Krems – long since reached the top!
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David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
