Blaufränkisch – Gossip – 2018

Wachter Wiesler – Blaufränkisch Ratschen – an Eisenberg DAC Reserve

The Wachter Wiesler Blaufränkisch Ratschen 2018 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 the Eisenberg, with its iron-rich soils, a variety of rock formations and soil compositions can be found in a very small area: oxidized greenshale, quartz phyllite, calc-schist, or serpentinite. This red wine from the region, which was only declared a DAC region for origin-typical wine in 2010, is independent, mineral-spicy, cool, precise with vibrant acidity and a masculine tannin structure.

On the nose, the garnet-red Blaufränkisch exudes dark berries, black as night blackberries, cassis, tart sloe, which meet a piquant herbal spice, forest floor and fermented pepper. On the palate, the single-vineyard wine is juicy, with cool minerality, vibrantly delicate yet well-structured, salty in the finish. The Wachter Wiesler Blaufränkisch Ratschen is a price-pleasure experience 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, deeply 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 from year to year and constantly evolve, and are among the greatest regional red wines of Austria.

The vineyard for this wine is located in the north-east facing Ratschen vineyard on the Deutsch Schützener Berg, which was formerly called Pfarrweingarten. The Blaufränkisch vines, some of which are 40 years old, stand on sandy loam in the upper soil and sand and gravel in the subsoil. The parent material of the soil is approx. 10 million years old. The vineyards are pampered by the sun, stony and rather flat, and in addition to the special soils, are shaped by the Pannonian-Illyrian climate. The vineyards of the Wachter Wiesler winery are cultivated by Christoph Wachter organically-biologically and with a lot of manual labor 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, ferment 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 unfiltered and unfined in summer 2020.

Blaufränkisch – a wine and its values

• Origin Wine from Austria
• Growing region Burgenland
• Site 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