Strohmeier, TLZ Sonne #8 NV 750ml

Personality: The skin contact on this wine is more prevalent than in the TLZ Weiss, but this is still a wine of subtlety and finesse, very in balance and faintly amber in color. Serve in big glasses to savor all its layers.

Vineyard: Bad Gams, Stainz. Gneiss with important iron and silica content.

Making of: The grapes are hand-harvested and carefully selected in the vineyard, keeping only very healthy and ripe grapes and picking out any damaged berries – this stage is crucial for having a top-quality material for the prolonged skin contact that follows. After destemming, the grapes are gently crushed and spend 4 weeks on skins. Gentle pneumatic pressing, spontaneous primary and malolactic fermentation. The wine is bottled after 12 months of maturation in used 500-liter wooden barrels – 50% in acacia, 50% oak. Unfiltered, unfined, zero sulfur added.

Winemaker's Note: Sonne means sun in German, a fitting name for this wine’s lush and generous character. Mature fruit and lavish skin-contact notes leave no space for the grassy characteristics of commercial Sauvignons. One of Strohmeier’s top wines, a real treat and also keeper – older vintages of this wine are truly stunning, in case you can wait…