naked rosé – 2022

Bone-dry naked rosé from the Gernot Heinrich winery

naked rosé from Gernot Heinrich is an unfiltered organic rosé made from Blaufränkisch, grown on the slopes of the Leitha Mountains and aged in clay amphorae. Not a pale patio wine for quick thirst-quenching, but a bone-dry rosé with a dark color, light berry fruit, and a smoky edge.

naked rosé is the pink natural wine from the Gernot Heinrich winery in Gols in the Austrian Burgenland, vinified solely from red Blaufränkisch grapes. They grow on fossil-rich limestone and slate soils on the southeast-facing slopes of the Leitha Mountains, which incline toward Lake Neusiedl. With its 12.0 percent alcohol, it remains agile despite all its density.

Dark color and light berry fruit

The color alone reveals that there is no summer drink in the glass here, as this rosé glows dark and significantly more intense than its lighter relatives.

The aromatics follow this lead with bright berry fruit, with cherry and raspberry, behind which a vibrant acidity keeps the wine upright. Blaufränkisch alone carries this wine without a second grape variety being allowed to soften the edges. In the end, a smoky touch remains that is reminiscent of flint and removes the sweetness from the fruit that it might otherwise feign.

It is bone-dry without appearing austere, because the structure on the palate is broad enough to carry this acidity. The winery calls it a rosé for the advanced drinker, and that hits the mark without romanticizing it. A wine for the table, then, not for the sun lounger.

Hours on the skins, months in the amphora

Harvested by hand in late September 2022, even the brief skin contact of just a few hours determines the color and structure of this wine.

After that, the grapes go into the press mostly as whole clusters, which releases the must more gently than any prior destemming would. Fermentation starts spontaneously with the vineyard's own yeasts. Malolactic fermentation followed, without stripping the rosé of its tension.

The young rosé then lies on its own fine lees in clay amphorae for five months—in a vessel, that is, that contributes neither woody notes nor significant amounts of oxygen. It was bottled unfined and unfiltered in late March 2023 with a minimal addition of sulfur. It is not filtered, which is why a slight cloudiness in the glass is part of the wine and not a flaw. Demeter and respekt-BIODYN stand for the biodynamic work behind it; it is vegan anyway.

What the char adds

Grilled bell peppers and a slice of pan-seared halloumi effortlessly withstand its smoky edge because both bring enough roasted aromas themselves not to be overshadowed.

Even a cold slice of vitello tonnato finds an equal in this acidity that supports it rather than covering it up. Serve cool, but not cold, because at temperatures that are too low, the very smoky touch that sets this wine apart from the competition disappears. 750 milliliters last longer than the color might suggest. For a barbecue in late summer, it is therefore a more obvious bottle than any white wine.

Other light-colored bottles for the warm season can be found under Rosé wine. The Blaufränkisch 2019 from the same estate shows how the same grape variety sounds as a red wine, and if you would like to get an overview of the entire operation, the path leads to Gernot Heinrich winery.

naked rosé – an organic wine and its values

• Origin: Wine from Austria
• Region: Burgenland
• Grape variety: Blaufränkisch
• Demeter certified
• RESPEKT Biodyn wine
• vegan
• 12.0% ABV alcohol
• 6.8 g/l acidity
• 1.6 g/l residual sugar

Organic inspection body AT-BIO-402 – Austrian Agriculture