Muscat Freyheit 2022

The Muscat Freyheit 2022 is an orange wine from Burgenland, vinified from Gelber Muskateller and Weissburgunder. At 12.0% ABV, it is light-bodied and vinified bone-dry, translating the floral fragrance of Muskateller not into sweetness, but into a taut, clear structure.

The winery is located in Gols by Lake Neusiedl in Burgenland. Gernot and Heike Heinrich started in 1990 with two hectares of their own vines and today cultivate one hundred hectares, fully biodynamically. The estate expanded by acquiring plots that others abandoned: steep, stony sites on the Leithaberg with cool limestone and on the Parndorfer Platte with gravel and red slate.

The Freyheit line is Gernot Heinrich’s range for skin-contact orange wines. The white grapes spend fourteen days on the skins—a process that sounds like an experiment but tastes like sheer precision. Maturation takes place in clay amphorae, which enable micro-oxidation without imparting oak aromas, and in large, seasoned wooden casks crafted by regional cooper Klaus Pauscha. The cellar relies strictly on gravity flow, entirely without pumps.

The bouquet evokes lychee and rose petals. On the palate, the wine remains dry and taut; the aromatic grape variety provides expressive character without ever allowing the wine to become broad.

The Heinrichs converted to biodynamic viticulture in 2006 following an inspiring encounter with biodynamics expert Andrew Lorand. In 2009, they were among the founding members of the respekt-BIODYN association, one of the strictest biodynamic certifications in Austria. The estate has been Demeter-certified since 2017.