-- Winzer: Winzer: Das geologisches Ausgangsmaterial: Sedimente des Pannoniums (ca. 10 Mio Jahre alt). 40 jährige Stöcke in der nach Süden ausgerichteten Riede Weinberg, Seehöhe 280m, eisenhaltiger Lehm. Vergoren mit 20% ganzen Trauben im Bottich für 21 Tage, Säureabbau und Lagerung im großen Holzfass (alt). Der Wein präsentiert ein tiefe dunkle Würze, dunkle Beeren, viele frische Kräuter und eine wunderbare Frische.
Christoph Wachter says „Blaufränkisch is our variety“ and „the soil makes the wine“.Christoph began working at the family winery in 2008 when he was just 20 years old. He took over full responsibility in 2010. Since his start, Christoph has received accolades for his wines from the most well-respected wine writers in Austria, Europe and also the United States. Christoph was named 2014 “Newcomer of the Year” by „der Feinschmecker“, the most important wine magazine in the German language. Christoph has 17 hectares of vineyards in Südburgenland, in the towns of Eisenberg and Deutsch Schützen. The Südburgenland is located at the south-eastern corner of Austria – just at the edge of the little hungarian Plain. With nearly 500 hectares of vineyards, it is the smallest and most 'untouched' wine region of Austria, and has become one of the country's most renowned wine regions as well. In Südburgenland, the vines grow in primary rock, the most notable terroir is the green schist of the Eisenberg hill. The Eisenberg DAC was extended to include wines from the surrounding villages, including Deutsch-Schutzen. Deutsch-Schutzen has iron rich loam and the Eisenberg hill has green schist with iron. Eisenberg is regarded as one of the finest sites for producing Blaufränkisch in Austria, producing wines of great finesse and focus. Deutsch Schützens soils, while similar, are denser with a deeper layer of loam, resulting in darker spicier wines with softer tannins. Südburgenland is cooler than Mittelburgenland and there are rolling hillsides, small mountains really, (called the pre-Alps). The hills are topped with forest and this regulates the temperature, another aspect of the micro- climate of Südburgenland.
He began working his 17 hectares of vines organically, vowing to return to the more natural winemaking methods of his grandfather’s generation. He allows the weeds to grow in his vineyards, as they attract beneficial insects and eventually return to the soil as nutrients themselves. Rather than add fertilizer, he leaves the vines to extract what they need from the soil itself, thus instilling the wines with minerality and allowing them to express their unique terroir. Christoph use only employ native yeasts, use upwards of 20-30% whole-cluster, and age in large barrels that allow the wines to mature gracefully without obscuring them with oak flavors. The resulting wines are incredibly elegant, expressive, superlative expressions of Blaufränkisch that should age well, though they are drinking well right now.
