Tasting
Lovely opaque purple with a dark cherry-coloured rim, impressive viscosity. Multi-dimensional aroma spectrum such as crisp heart cherries, cooled blackberry juice, laurel, Phoenician (=cedar wood), black pepper, hibiscus, pepper again, a lot of Christmas, herbal potpourri, particularly cinnamon and cloves, notes of blackthorn, piment, hints of juniper. Enormous structure and iron power. Dry, powerful structure with structured-soft tannins indicating a strict grape and barrel selection. Animating fruit sweetness, yet supported by rust minerality at any time, fierce. Long finish with promising potential. You can with certainty rely on this smart representative of the vintage!
Pairing
Vegan blood sausage made of black olives and fermented garlic, chorizo risotto with casew, duroc-burger with bacon cole slaw, bean stew with smoked paprika powder, glazed beef cheek with pepper cherries, a generous slice of Bison, goose of any kind (smoked goose breast with juniper, goose salami, roasted goose), Mangaliza brochettes with smoked bacon and olives, wild boar escalope spiced with paprika, kebab of wild boar and goat, matured Pecorino, Porchetta with classical herbs. Accompanies decisive moments of the movie “Cordoba again” by Johann K – from dusk till dawn… those who still disbelieve: taste it blind against the best Blaufränkisch wines of Burgenland, thus the world. “That´s it” Ostbahn-Kurti would probably say – as a man of world!
Making
Manual harvest into small boxes end of September 2017 from the single vineyards Plachen (loess brown earth) and Oberer Wald (loam on chalk), Rieglband (slate weathering soil) as well as large Öden (slate brown earth with loamy sand) and the wonderful upper Bandkräftn as the heart of the vineyard area.
De-stemming, mash fermentation in closed stainless steel tanks at a temperature of approximately 29 °C (86 °F) for 14 days followed by 4 additional days of maceration, gentle pressing, malolactic fermentation and maturation in 300 l oak barrels (approximately 30% new). Marriage and short final maturation in large wooden casks.
