Our Wine Wednesdays, include one *free sample from each of our hand selected fine wine features (up to four wines). New wines are chosen each week! This week we have Brian from Sour Grapes and a bag full of glou glou.

Brunn Blauer Zweigelt Rosé
100% Blauer Zweigelt. Estate grown. Hand-harvested in small batches. In Kamptal, just north of the Danube, resides Brunn, a family owned and run winery. Winemaker Karl Steinschaden and his family are dedicated to traditional practices, completing the harvest 100% by hand in small cases. The old estate vines produce low yield with very high quality grapes. Brunn practices traditional fermentation in small tanks using native yeasts in order to enhance the beautiful typicity of its vineyards. The winery has a very old historic subterranean cellar where their wines can mature in perfect conditions. Both normal barrels and large neutral vats are used to prevent the wood from overpowering the wine. Bright pink in color and lively in the glass. Crisp acid with notes of strawberry and raspberry on the palate, and lovely notes of lilies on the nose.

Weszeli Loiserberg Riesling
Aspects that are particularly important to the winery in this context are the sustainability of organic viticulture and the authenticity of the wines: no additives and no technical tricks, but rather targeted support to the ecosystem so that the vines can fully benefit from the potential of the terroir. They approach wine with a big understanding for the old and proven. At the same time he makes it to the test with some unorthodox approaches. Davis is sure that new findings combined with well-tried form the basis for a sustainable development of the estate. This south/southeast-facing cru lies on the Loiserberg, which rises in the western part of the town of Langenlois. This is close to the nearby Waldviertel region. The Loiserberg, at 380 meters above sea level, is the highest vineyard site in the Kamptal region. The Loiserberg vineyard is characterised by contrasts. While its southern exposure ensures ample direct sunlight, steady winds from the rough Waldviertel region breathe cool air around the hot vines and grapes. This antagonism is reflected by the Riesling’s rich and powerful aromas that even elicit exotic images. The meagre soil of Gfoehl gneiss and a very thin humus layer force the vines to grow their roots particularly deep in the underground – this is where the distinct, fruity character of the wine develops. Together with rapeseeds, sunflowers, lilacs and fruit trees, the roses and peonies growing between the vine rows turn this vineyard into a paradise for bees and other insects. Elegant fruit melange of citrus fruits and stone fruit with a little pineapple, a bit ciabatta, fragrant, delicately floral, balanced and discreet; juicy middle weight, elegantly built, a lot of fruit in the entree, tighter behind with a fine bite and a pleasantly dry finish.

Strekov 1075 PORTA #4
ORANGE WINE. Varieties: Gruner Veltliner, Welschriesling, Devín (a cross of Gewurtztraminer and Roter Veltliner produced for use in Slovakia), Aurelieus (a cross of Neuburger and Riesling produced for use in the Czech Republic). Zsolt Sütó cultivates 12 hectares of vines in the village of Strekov, in Slovakia. The vineyards are located on the terraces of Pohronska pahorkatina, featuring ponds and marshland that creates a unique microclimate. The top layer of soil consists of clay-loam, which lays above the marine sediments, sandstone and limestone veins. Deeper soil layers consist of yellow and blue-gray clay. Zsolt’s fermentations take place in open topped barrels with no sulfur and no intervention, he also uses a lot of skin maceration, aging under voile to create naturally strong and stable wines. As of the 2017 vintage. Zsolt was very happy to vinify and bottle all of his wines with zero additions of sulfur. Grapes are hand harvested and destemmed. The Gruner spends 6 months under flor, the Welschriesling and Devín spends 5 months on the sediment and the Aurelieus had some botrytis and spends one month macerating on the skins. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered, with a small addition of sulfur. Dusty orange with a lifted nutty nose with dried apricots or peach, blood orange zest and moss along some ripe flowers. Earthy funk but should not be a problem for most consumers. Texturally full like a medium bodied red wine with some skin tannins dring out the back end.

Ampeleia Kepos
Natural. If you love Unlitro, Kepos is basically the same wine aged a few months longer in concrete. Alicante Nero (also known as Grenache, Cannonau or Garnacha) but also Carignan and Alicante Bouschet In the 60’s, Erica and Peter Max Suter, a Swiss couple, bought the abandoned farm and turned it into a rural estate with woods and pastures, breeding sheep and pigeons as well as planting a vineyard; soon the Meleta winery (in Italian, ‘Meleto’ is an apple orchard and the winery was named after the orchard on its land) was known for its wine and products. It was at that time that Cabernet Franc and Merlot were introduced to Roccatederighi. The vines in Ampeleia grow at a range of altitudes and on different soils: the great geological variety found in the area around Roccatederighi represents a rich pool of diversity. From the rocks of the medieval village of Roccatederighi, one descends to the coast and sea, in a landscape woven with countless fields hidden in the dense vegetation of Mediterranean scrub and holm-oak woods. Today, the estate extends over three altitude levels and covers 33 hectares of vineyard producing an average of 160,000 bottles annually. Different Mediterranean grape varieties are fermented together and blended to produce this wine. The grapes are sourced in the vineyards closest to the sea, in Ampeleia di Sotto, where the Mediterranean scrub dominates the landscape permeating the air with its fragrances: this is Kepos.

 

 

 

 

 

*tasting free with purchase of $10 or more per guest