Chris & Mark's Austrian adventure

Early November saw Chris and Mark taking a whistle-stop tour to Austria to visit the wonderful growers with whom we are working, to taste recent vintage releases and to catch up with new developments. I am delighted to report that the fruits of that visit are now newly arrived and are well worthy of your consideration.

 

The Gsellmann’s have been growing grapes in Gols since 1800 but in recent years things have developed significantly and they now have over 40 hectares under vine. The real star of the show here was the “Pannobile” white, a Weissburgunder of exceptional balance and charm which will, unquestionably, be on our next shipment in the new year. Pannobile is a group of 9 of the top growers in Gols who have joined forces to collaborate with each other, openly sharing ideas, experiences and support. Their goal was to create individual and unique wines that would compete with the very best of the world. Every year they each produce 2 wines, a red and a white, which they submit to their fellow members who will assess whether the wines are worthy of carrying the “Pannobile” label. It requires a “no” vote from only one member for a wine to be rejected, hence the standard is exceptionally high. Production is very low for this but we do have a handful of bottles available at £17.95 per bottle.

 

Bernhard is, without question, one of Austria’s more colourful characters whose adherence to biodynamism is now bordering on obsessive. His hands-off approach to wine production has taken an even more extreme twist with his newly released Gruner Veltliner “Qvevre,” a wine produced in earthenware amphoras imported from Georgia.

Having excavated a sizeable hole in an outbuilding, Bernhard filled this with 500 litre and 1,000 litre amphora which he then surrounded with soil taken from the vineyard. Come harvest time, his best grapes were de-stemmed and thrown whole into the amphora where nature was allowed to take its course. 6 months on, having fermented and settled perfectly naturally, the resulting wine was pumped out and bottled. It is one of the most extraordinary wines I have ever come across – incredibly intense initially albeit closed on the mid-palate with a balanced minerality on the finish. We have sold 2 of our allocation already, I am taking a third which leaves us with 3 bottles at £47.50 each. 1^st come, 1^st served.