Moric Moric Reserve Blaufränkisch 2020

Burgenland, Austria's easternmost region, stretches along the Hungarian border under the influence of a Pannonian climate with hot summers and long autumns. It is the heartland of Blaufränkisch, which Roland Velich helped to reveal. The Moric Reserve cuvée blends grapes from renowned plots, whose roots draw on soils rich in limestone and iron ore, the source of a fresh minerality.

The grapes are harvested by hand and then ferment spontaneously, with native yeasts, after a maceration of nearly three weeks. The wine is then aged at length on fine lees in large casks, for around twenty months, before being bottled without fining or filtration, in order to preserve the purity of the fruit and the expression of the terroir.

This wine reveals notes of blackberry, elderberry, blackcurrant, plum, rosehip, violet, forest floor and eucalyptus. The dark, fresh and taut palate offers a fine, silky texture, measured acidity and delicate tannins. The fresh, slightly herbal fruit accompanies an elegant, persistent finish.

Austrian viticulture has made enormous strides in wine quality over the past decade. Today, Austrian winemakers no longer produce cheap wines for mass consumption, but rather refined and complex wines. Austria produces 65% white wines. From a general perspective, Austrian wines are more powerful and richer than those of their German neighbor. The major and most widely planted national grape variety is Grüner Veltliner (an indigenous white grape). Red wine production continues to increase in volume, intensity, and quality. In Burgenland, in particular, producers are making the most of a unique blend of local grape varieties (Blaufränkisch, Saint-Laurent, Zweigelt) and French varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Pinot Noir). Austria's climate is primarily continental, with cold winters and hot summers. The country is influenced by four main weather patterns. To the east, continental influences from Pannonia; to the west, Atlantic influences as well as cold winds from the north; and to the south, Mediterranean influences. The Danube, meandering languidly through numerous vineyards, brings a variety of microclimates to the vines.