naked white – 2023

Unfiltered natural wine naked white from the Gernot Heinrich winery

naked white by Gernot Heinrich is an unfiltered white wine cuvée from Burgenland, spontaneously fermented and bottled without the addition of sulfur. Not a polished glass of white wine, then, but a cloudy natural wine with grassy freshness, ripe orange fruit, and juicy tannins.

naked white is the white natural wine from the Gernot Heinrich winery in Gols in Austria’s Burgenland region, pressed from four grape varieties: Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Welschriesling, and Grüner Veltliner. The grapes for the 2023 vintage grow on both sides of Lake Neusiedl, on limestone and slate soils in the Leithagebirge, on the gravel of the Parndorfer Platte, and on humus-rich heath soil. At 12.0 percent alcohol, it remains light-footed.

Sourdough, wild flowers, and ripe orange

When you open the bottle, the first thing you notice is sourdough, followed by wild flowers and herbs, just like those found growing by the wayside in summer.

On the palate, it becomes broader: grassy freshness comes first, followed by floral hay and ripe orange fruit. Beneath this lies a tannin structure that remains juicy rather than harsh. The wine is densely structured without ever becoming heavy, and it is precisely this balance that makes it one of the most accessible entry points into the world of natural wines.

Because it is bottled unfiltered, the yeast settles at the bottom over time. Before opening, the bottle is therefore given a shake; this redistributes the sediment evenly, and the wine appears as it was intended: pale, milky, and anything but transparent.

Overnight on the skins

The grapes are harvested by hand between mid-September and early October, and what follows is, above all, an absence of intervention.

The grapes remain on the skins with the stems overnight and are only gently pressed afterwards. Fermentation is spontaneous, meaning it relies solely on the yeasts that come from the vineyard. This is followed by a natural malolactic fermentation, during which the sharp malic acid converts into milder lactic acid. This is the source of the creamy character that this white wine possesses despite all its freshness.

It is then given time—over a year—on its own lees in large oak barrels before being bottled unfiltered and without the addition of sulfur in late spring 2024. The winery manages the vineyards organically and biodynamically, with plenty of manual labor and a degree of patience.

What to serve with it

Fatty foods are the obvious counterpart, because the juicy tannins cut through the heaviness without the wine being overshadowed.

Crispy roast chicken skin, duck, and goose go well with it, and even a grilled ribeye finds a peer in this white natural wine. It should be served cool, but not ice-cold, otherwise the aroma will disappear behind the temperature.

"Unadulterated, straightforward, and precise," is how the winery describes the naked white, and this is echoed by the observation that 750 milliliters rarely last long in good company. If you suspect that might happen, pick up the six-bottle case right away.

The red counterpart from the same house is the naked red, grown on the same soils around the lake. If you would like to continue exploring the cloudy side, you will find it in our Orange Wine selection, where the maceration time is significantly longer. More bottles for the brighter part of the evening can be found in White Wine.

naked white – a natural wine and its specs

• Origin: Wine from Austria
• 40% Chardonnay
• 48% Pinot Blanc
• 5% Welschriesling
• 7% Grüner Veltliner
• 12.0% ABV
• 6.6 g/l acidity
• 1 g/l residual sugar

Organic control body AT-BIO-402 – Austrian Agriculture