Lutzmannsburg Alte Reben 2018 1500ml Magnum

The Lutzmannsburg Alte Reben 2018 is a Blaufränkisch selection from the oldest plots in Lutzmannsburg in Burgenland, here in magnum format. Dense and generous, yet balanced and precise, with tannin that remains ripe and well-dosed. Approachable enough for today, built to age for the next 20 years and beyond.

The Lutzmannsburg plateau formed on a prehistoric volcano. Above the deposits of volcanic origin lie sediments from the Pannonian Sea: calcareous sandstone, loam, sand and clay. The 2018 was selected from six parcels, with vines aged between 85 and 110 years yielding tiny crops.

Around 20% of the harvest fermented as whole clusters with stems. Fermentation began spontaneously and lasted 23 to 28 days in open wooden vats. After very gentle pressing, the wine spent eleven months on full lees in 500- and 600-litre casks, where malolactic fermentation took place spontaneously; after the first racking, a further twelve months followed in 500-litre casks. It was bottled at the end of September 2019, unfined, unfiltered and with minimal sulphite additions. Moric farms the vines biodynamically.

Deep red between ruby and garnet with violet highlights. On the nose, black cherry, elderberry and mulberry, along with herbs and a touch of tar and peat; with air, violet and flint emerge. On the palate the wine moves between red and dark berries, wild herbs and earthy notes, with tannin that carries fine and elegant.

Stuffed quail with blood orange and wild garlic, pheasant terrine with foie gras and sloe chutney, or mountain cheese dumplings with mushrooms, lentils and blackberry reduction.

1.5-litre magnum, 13.5% vol., dry. Roland Velich struck out on his own with Moric in 2001 and was named Falstaff Winemaker of the Year in 2023; the estate comprises 22.5 hectares of vineyards.