Tauss, Blaufränkisch vom Opok 2017 750ml

Personality: Spicy, mineral take on the grape, with a pleasant touch of earthiness and only 11% ABV – happy to be chilled!

Vineyard: Several plots in the lower part of the Hohenegg hill, part of them one-wire trained, which is quite typical for Styria. Vines planted in 1980, 1984, 2000, 2002 on Opok soil – limestone and clay silt. Certified biodynamic, estate owned.

Making of: Grapes are hand-harvested into small crates, with manual selection in the vineyard. Destemmed, crushed and left on skins until dry, then pressed in open pneumatic press. Both the alcoholic and malolactic fermentations happen spontaneously in old neutral French barriques and 300L barrels. The wine spends about 24 months in total neutral oak casks. Bottled without fining or filtration, 10 ppm of sulfur added.