Salzberg 2018

The Salzberg 2018 is a dry red wine made from Blaufränkisch and Merlot by Gernot and Heike Heinrich in Gols on Lake Neusiedl. In its youth, it shows restraint and needs years in the bottle to reveal its full stature. 13.5% ABV.

The Salzberg vineyard begins directly above the winery, facing due south and dry. Soils range from clayey-silty and calcareous to sandy-gravelly. The dry conditions yield small, thick-skinned berries with high aromatic concentration and exceptional extract.

Blaufränkisch and Merlot, harvested by hand and spontaneously fermented. The wine spends three weeks on the skins in wooden fermentation vats before being gently pressed with a basket press and matured for 48 months in 500-litre oak casks. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Concentrated dark fruit on the nose: sweet cherries, damson plums and mulberries, joined by forest floor, coffee and dark chocolate, gently spiced with black cardamom and tonka bean. The attack is powerful and tense, while remaining transparent and silky. The tannins are finely structured; the mouthfeel is reminiscent of fine sandpaper, giving the wine a tart, invigorating astringency. The acidity operates quietly in the background, anchoring the powerful structure. In its youth, decanting and a large bowl are essential.

Nut-crusted saddle of venison with pepper cherries and young savoy cabbage, turbot in a pumpernickel crust with celeriac mousseline and beurre rouge, or, as a vegetarian option, smoked beetroot with rye bread crumble and wild herb salad.

The Heinrichs cultivate their one hundred hectares biodynamically, have been Demeter-certified since 2017, and co-founded the respekt-BIODYN association. For the Salzberg, maturation in wood remains a cornerstone.