Gelber Muskateller Kitzeck-Sausal – from Wohlmuth in Styria

The Wohlmuth Gelber Muskateller Kitzeck-Sausal 2020 is a fragrant, dry white wine from Styria in Austria. The Gelber Muskateller from Weingut Wohlmuth is a wonderfully floral, enormously juicy local wine. On the nose and palate, it convinces with an aroma spectrum of floral notes of elderflower, ripe tangerine, yellow tropical fruit such as sweet pineapple and exotic lychee, nutmeg and a hint of pepper, always accompanied by a fine slate spice, wonderful cool minerality, finesse, and precision. This demonstrates the ingenious interplay of grape variety, soil, location, and winemaking craftsmanship, which has a 200-year-old tradition at Wohlmuth.

Wohlmuth – Wine Production

The Muskateller vines grow on incredibly steep vineyard slopes, planted on Paleozoic slate soils. Influenced by the Illyrian climate, which brings warm winds from the Mediterranean and cool winds from the northern Alps to Kitzeck in Southern Styria, and with much manual labor on the steep slopes, which requires an admirable sense of local attachment, this dry white wine with a distinctive, complex fruit character is created.

All grapes are selectively hand-picked very late. Since the vineyards are located around the winery, long transport routes are not necessary. After a maceration period of 4-8 hours, slow temperature-controlled fermentation takes place at approx. 20 degrees Celsius. To preserve the fragrance and freshness, the wine is aged on fine lees in stainless steel tanks until bottling at the end of February.

The Muskateller grape variety has a long tradition, as it is considered one of the oldest cultivated grape varieties with a multitude of variants. The Gelber Muskateller is a rather late-ripening variety and finds optimal conditions for its long growing season at Weingut Wohlmuth in Styria. It owes its name to its typically intense Muscat aroma.

The Gelber Muskateller Kitzeck-Sausal is a classic local wine exclusively from grapes grown around Kitzeck in Southern Styria. The Kitzeck-Sausal local appellation is a geological peculiarity within Southern Styria, as its soils are significantly older than in the rest of Southern Styria and were formed over 400 million years ago with the Central Alps. The landscape is therefore rougher, which is reflected around the village of Kitzeck not only in impressively steep vineyards with direct access but also in numerous terraced systems. The difference from the highest point of the hills to the valley floor is usually over 200 meters and is also evident in the particular steepness of the vineyards. Most of the vineyards are located at altitudes of 380 to 650 meters, which contributes to good air circulation for the vines.

The appealing modern label is designed each year by a different young artist. For 2020, it features a painting by the Austrian artist Gerhard Gutruf, who was born in Burgenland.

Gelber Muskateller Kitzeck-Sausal – a wine and its values

• 12.0 % vol. alcohol
• 6.4 g/l acidity
• 1.1 g/l residual sugar