Welschriesling 2021

This Welschriesling comes from Rust, a small historic town in Burgenland on the western shore of Lake Neusiedl, in eastern Austria. The grapes come from the centuries-old Vogelsang plot, on a gentle hill offering the finest view of the lake. Its soil of clayey Leitha limestone, mixed with crystalline rocks, gneiss and gravel, brings clarity and freshness. The lake, a vast temperature regulator, and the very sunny Pannonian climate provide wide day–night swings, a guarantee of fruit and liveliness.

The Landauer family, who have grown vines in Rust since 1650, farm their plots without herbicides or irrigation, with deliberately low yields. The grapes are hand-picked at full ripeness and carefully sorted at harvest. In the cellar, intervention remains minimal: the must ferments at low temperature to preserve the expression of the fruit, then the wine rests on its fine lees before early bottling, carried out at the estate, to retain all its freshness and crunch.

This wine reveals notes of green apple, lemon zest, grapefruit, pear, acacia blossom, elderflower, cut hay, flint and iodine. The colour is pale yellow and limpid. On the palate, the wine is dry, light and thirst-quenching, carried by lively acidity and a clean, precise line, before a fresh, fruity and slightly saline 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.