Grey Freedom – 2022

Skin-fermented Graue Freyheit 2022 from Weingut Gernot Heinrich

Graue Freyheit 2022 from Gernot Heinrich is the vintage where Pinot Gris takes the lead, skin-fermented and bottled unfiltered. Not a reserved white wine from Burgenland, then, but a dense orange wine with warm fruit and broad tannins.

Graue Freyheit 2022 is the latest amphora wine from the Gernot Heinrich winery in Gols in Austria’s Burgenland region, and the first in which the grey variety makes up the majority. It is joined by Pinot Blanc, Neuburger, and Chardonnay from the Leithaberg vineyard sites Edelgraben and Alter Berg, while the Pinot Gris grows above the slate of the Joiser Hackelsberg. Despite the warm year, it remains at 12.0 percent alcohol.

The darkest color in the entire range

Because the grey variety accounts for the largest share here, the color is more intense than in older vintages of this series.

In the glass lies a warm copper-pink, which shimmers amber when held up to the light and allows for no transparency. Dried apricot and red berries define the scent, accompanied by the tea spice that all wines in this series share. On the palate, it seems broader than the previous vintage, with ripe fruit and a tannin that leaves the tongue pleasantly rough.

The winery calls this combination "austere and fruit-loving," and it is precisely this juxtaposition that makes it so appealing. The vintage is still young, which is why half an hour in an opened bottle does it a world of good. Those who let it age will likely find the same calm tone in a few years that the oldest wine in this series has long since attained.

From the skins to the sediment in the bottle

The hand-harvesting took place in the warm year of 2022 from the end of August to early September, bringing exceptionally ripe berries into the cellar.

The mash sat for fifteen days and began to ferment on its own before the juice was gently extracted in a basket press. This was followed by 17 months on the natural lees, with some resting in amphorae and the rest in large, used oak barrels whose staves have long since become neutral after many fillings. It only left the cellar at the end of February 2024, unfiltered and without any added sulfur.

Because nothing was filtered, a fine sediment settles to the bottom of the clay bottle over time, where it is invisible. The winery asks that you turn the bottle vigorously before pouring so that this sediment is resuspended. Without this step, a good portion of the texture remains at the bottom, and the wine appears narrower than it is actually built.

What to serve with this vintage

Tandoori chicken with a yogurt marinade demands a wine that can stand up to spice and roasted aromas, and the broad fruit of this vintage can handle both.

Oven-roasted eggplants with sesame paste find an echo in the tea spice, and a lentil dal is brightened rather than weighed down by the tannins. It should be served well-chilled, as the ripe fruit can quickly become too cloying otherwise.

The cooler, stricter counter-design can be found in the Graue Freyheit 2021, which comes from a significantly fresher year. If you are interested in the fragrant side of this style, you will find it in the Muscat Freyheit 2022. All cloudy wines from this house and beyond can be found under Orange Wine.

Graue Freyheit – a natural wine and its values

• 60% Pinot Gris
• 30% Pinot Blanc
• 8% Neuburger
• 2% Chardonnay
• 12.0% Vol. Alcohol
• 5.8 g/l Acidity
• 1.3 g/l Residual sugar

Organic inspection body AT-BIO-402 – Austrian Agriculture