Graue Fryheit 2020 - an orange wine from Heike and Gernot Heinrich
The Graue Freyheit 2020 by Heike and Gernot Heinrich, which owes its name to the 20% Pinot Gris content, is certainly no "grey mouse", because due to the skin-fermented Pinot Gris, its colour is more like a rosé than a white wine. What's more, it is cloudy, as it was filled unfiltered into the clay bottle. Here, the winemaker simply wanted to be free to try something new, unconstrained by conventions. The result is an excellent food companion with the aroma of red berries, the delicate spice of black tea, with vibrant acidity, noticeable minerality and an enormous body.
Heike and Gernot Heinrich say this about their Graue Freyheit: "Due to its origin from slate and limestone soils, it is an exceptional interpretation of the Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris varieties with the support of Chardonnay. Orange zest paired with fine herbal spice, finessed with coolness and tension and animating tannins. Its mineral finish dances playfully on the palate."
Gernot Heinrich – Winemaking
In the Graue Freyheit, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc come together. The Pinot Gris grows on the Joiser Hackelsberg, a north-western slope facing away from Lake Neusiedl with slate and quartz slate soils. Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc mostly come from the top sites Breitenbrunner Edelgraben and Windener Alter Berg, i.e. from limestone and slate-containing eastern slopes of the Leitha Mountains. The vineyards are cultivated organically-biologically and biodynamically.
The grapes, hand-picked from late August to early September 2020, were allowed to ferment spontaneously and remained on the skins for 15 days before being gently pressed in a basket press. The Graue Freyheit underwent a natural malolactic fermentation, in which the more aggressive malic acid is converted into milder lactic acid. This brings typical notes and, above all, a pleasant creaminess to the wine, which was allowed to mature for a full 17 months on the natural lees in amphorae and large, used oak barrels before being bottled unfiltered and without added sulfur in mid-March 2022. Please shake the natural wine vigorously before enjoying!
Graue Freyheit – a natural wine and its values
- Origin natural wine from Austria
- 50% Pinot Blanc
- 20% Pinot Gris
- 15% Chardonnay
- 15% Neuburger
- 12.5% Vol. Alcohol
- 5.9 g/l acidity
- 1.0 g/l residual sugar
Organic Control Body BIO-AT-402 – Austrian Agriculture