Wieninger, Wiener Pinot Noir Select 6 bottle case 75cl

This wine has ripe cherry and orange aromas on the nose, along with a delicate spice undertone. The palate expresses ripe plum notes, a minerally texture, good acidity and soft, playful tannins. Highly elegant, more than medium bodied and very Burgundian, this Pinot Noir has great finesse and potential for ageing.

Weingut Wieninger is comprised of 45 hectares of biodynamically-grown vines on two main sites: Bisamberg (30 ha) and the smaller Nussberg (15 ha), separated by the Danube river. Drier and sunnier Bisamberg is characterised by light, sandy loess soil which makes for fresh wines with vibrant acidity. In contrast, Nussberg has shell and limestone soils with a high clay content, giving wines with greater richness and deeper fruit aromas.

2016 was a difficult vintage. April experienced extreme frosts and hail storms, which resulted in a large percentage of crop loss. The summer was wet, which caused high disease incidence. Luckily, weather in early autumn was far more favourable, resulting in good quality fruit with balanced acidity and powerful aromatics.

The grapes were destemmed and the must was transferred into modern punch down fermentation tanks. The must was immediately cooled for cold maceration. After three days, spontaneous fermentation with natural yeast began. This lasted - with moderate temperature control – for approximately seven days. Following the fermentation and another short maceration, the wine was pressed and filled into Burgundian 225 litre barriques, 25% new. The lees were stirred at regular intervals during extended contact with the wine. After 12 months, the first racking was carried out. Then, after a total of 18 months, barrique maturation was completed and the wine blended into a large barrel. Bottling took place one month later without fining or filtration.

Fritz Wieninger is considered a pioneer of the “New Vienna” wine movement, combining a sense of modernity and progress with the traditions of the region and of his family, who have been making wine for over 100 years. “I try to use the numerous facets of my grape material,” Fritz says. “To be able to show the differences in site and vintage and to get the character of the vineyard into the bottle – this is my greatest challenge.”