Blaufränkisch – Gossip – 2017

Wachter-Wiesler – Blaufränkisch Ratschen – Eisenberg DAC Reserve

The Wachter-Wiesler Blaufränkisch Ratschen 2017 Eisenberg DAC Reserve is an organic red wine from the Ratschen vineyard in southern Burgenland, Austria. This single-vineyard red wine made from Blaufränkisch grapes impressively showcases its unique terroir: the Deutsch Schützener Berg. Around Eisenberg, with its iron-rich soils, there is a diverse range of rock formations and soil compositions in a very small area: oxidized green slate, quartz phyllite, calcareous slate, or serpentinite. This red wine from a region declared a DAC for wines typical of its origin only in 2010, is distinctive, minerally-spicy, cool, precise with vibrant acidity and a masculine tannin structure.

On the nose, the garnet-red Blaufränkisch exudes dark berry fruits, deep black blackberries, cassis, tart sloe, which meet a piquant herbal spice, with forest floor and fermented pepper joining in. On the palate, the single-vineyard wine is juicy, with cool minerality, vibrantly delicate yet well-structured, and salty in the finish. The Wachter-Wiesler Blaufränkisch Ratschen offers an excellent price-to-enjoyment ratio at the highest Blaufränkisch level.

Ratschen Eisenberg DAC Reserve – Winemaking

A single-vineyard Blaufränkisch like the Ratschen represents the pinnacle of the Wachter Wiesler winery. Single-vineyard wines from old vines, deep-rooted in the very special (not to say unprecedented) soil structures of Deutsch Schützen. Lowest intervention wines with guaranteed aging potential and enormous development potential, intended to be companions for decades. Great wines that grow in all their facets year after year and constantly evolve, ranking among the very best region-specific red wines of Austria.

The vineyard for this wine is located in the north-east facing Ratschen vineyard on the Deutsch Schützener Berg, formerly known as Pfarrweingarten. The Blaufränkisch vines, some 40 years old, stand on sandy loam in the upper layer and sand and gravel in the subsoil. The parent material of the soil is approximately 10 million years old. The vineyards are sun-drenched, stony, and rather flat, and, in addition to the special soils, are shaped by the Pannonian-Illyrian climate. Christoph Wachter cultivates the vineyards of the Wachter-Wiesler winery organically and with great manual effort and care. The Blaufränkisch grapes, hand-picked from mid-September to mid-October 2017, remain on the mash for 28 days, partly in wooden fermentation vats, partly in steel, fermenting spontaneously with natural vineyard yeasts and are then gently pressed. Afterwards, they undergo malolactic fermentation and mature for 22 months in traditional, large wooden barrels (2000l). Bottled unfined and unfiltered in summer 2020.

Blaufränkisch – a wine and its characteristics

• Origin Wine from Austria
• Growing region Burgenland
• Vineyard Ratschen
• Eisenberg DAC Reserve
• Grape variety Blaufränkisch
• 13% Vol. Alcohol
• 5.7 g/l Acidity
• 1.0 g/l Residual sugar

Organic control body AT-BIO-402 – Austrian Agriculture