2021 Ried Spitzerberg-Obere Spitzer 1ÖTW

Site & soil

The sub-vineyard Obere Spitzer includes nearly seven hectares of vines and is situated at the extreme western part of the slope. It stretches from about 210 meters altitude up to the border of the natural reserve covered with bushes and mediterranean oak trees. It is one of the steepest parts of the slope and extremly sandy and try.

We cultivate four Blaufränkisch vineyards on the Obere Spitzer with a total surface of one hectar. The oldest vineyards dates back to 1955, the youngest was planted in 2003. For this wine, we only use the grapes from the oldest vine, which produce a ridiculously small yield. But the expression of these grapes is so unique that we just cannot mix them with them with others. That is the reason why there are only 500 bottles of this wine, and it is certainly the most elegant and the finest that we have ever produced.

Harvest & vinification

The grapes are harvested by hand, and any overripe or unperfect berry is removed by hand. Especially with old vines this is a lot of work, but it is essential in order to get this precise, crystalclear expression and this silky structure.

We ferment the grapes in an open vats and push down softly by hand. The spontaneous fermentation proceeds very slowly and at room temperature; the must is neither heated nor cooled. This guarantees wines that are very precise & generously aromatic. After about twenty days, the wine is pressed and then matured in 600-litre wooden casks. No new wood is utilised, in order to avoid masking the expressive fruit of the Blaufränkisch. After two years in oak, the wine is bottled without filtration and matures for another year in the bottle before it is released.

Vintage 2021

2021 definitly is an outstanding year. Probably the best vintage that has ever been harvested on the Spitzerberg.

The spring was very dry for a long time, and quite cold, which led to a very late start of the vegetation. How lucky we were! While large parts of Europe had enormous damage by the late frost, our vines were still asleep and therefore were not touched by the cold temperatures. The summer brought small rainfalls now and then and was rather cool, which helped the vines to mature the grapes in a balanced and slow way. In the autum, the weather changed and we had a long, sunny and dry period, which brought us mature fruits with intensive character.

And wonderful complex vintage, a bit more powerful than the previous year. Great potential.