Septime, Paris
Alexander Zülch of Vins Vivants has been dealing with natural wines for quite a few years now (nearly ten), he began to import wines from Germany and Austria to France 6 years ago, importing 15 domaines over
This winetasting event was a good opportunity to feel the beat of the wine scene in
Alex says there's a general openness here in France among the gastronomy, restaurant people concerning wines from outside France with wines from Italy, Greece, Georgia, and now Austrian and also German wines are joining the list of foreign wines found in good restaurants. I asked Alex how these winemakers and Winzer are faring in their respective markets, he says that it's obviously the future, every interesting restaurant that is opening these days chooses this type of wines, and people ask for that, the Berlin restaurant scene saw many demanding restaurants focused on the ingredients and food like we have in Paris and they know about these natural wines found in similar venues in Paris, New York or Copenhagen. Alex says that this came suddenly and recently, like for example 3 or 4 years ago there wasn't such a demand from the public, you can feel it in cities like Berlin, Vienna, Hamburg, even if it has not yet reached the climax of Paris or New York in that regard ...
I asked Alex if there was someone he discovered recently, he talked about Weingut Seckinger in Pfalz (Palatinat), Germany; this is a young domaine managed by 3 brothers who took over the family winery and converting to natural wine in a quite successful way with very interesting rieslings going through 2-year élevages. He also discovered a very nice producer in Italy, actually it's in the North in a German-speaking area near the Austrian border, this is Weingut Pranzegg, a small domaine managed by Martin Gojer, he will add it like an "intruder" in his portfolio of imports at his Vins Etrangers structure which is based in Alsace, France. At Pranzegg they have 3 alpine terroirs in high altitude.
My first stop was at the Tschida table, and Jan Hugel was there to pour the wines, last time I met him it was in Berlin where he worked at Maxim wine bar (closed since). Jan now works at Wagner Bistro in Spandau where they pour great natural wines (see Facebook page for the bottles). The city has evolved since B. and I visited Berlin a few years back, many more people are living there today and there has been a spike in real estate prices (Berlin was considered cheap for decades), but more venues opened shop, particularly in the more-affordable Neukölln district (see this Sprudge page with a few bars profiled).
__ This Himmel auf Erden (Paradise on Earth) 2018 rosé was soooo good.... Just looking at its color should make you salivate. Blend of Cabernet Franc & Zweigelt, 12 %, unfiltered, zero SO2, a killing !
Claus Preisinger makes wine near Lake Neusiedlersee in Austria, his first vintage was in 2000 and he's certified
biodynamic since 2009.
__ Kalk und Kiesel Blanc, blend of Pinot Blanc, Grüner Veltliner, Muscat Ottonel.Turbid white. Feels like super alive in the mouth, with lemon, citrus notes, I love it ! Vinified in clay pots and old oak. Again, unfined, unfiltered, no added sulfites.
Great thing that these guys all came here in person ! Ewald Tscheppe of Weingut Werlitsch) is also a big name of the natural wine scene in Austria, he farms biodynamic near the Slovenia border in the south of the country. He works from 8 hectares
__ Welschriesling vom Opok 2017. Little imbalance here, a bit sweet.
The interest for these wines was palpable, with a growing crowd and a medium age that was quite young by the way.
Johannes Zillinger makes wine from 20 hectares, he took the reins of his family domaine in 2013 and is located in eastern
__ NV Revolution White Solera, a white with 6 vintages (starting in 2013), labelled as Deutscher Tafelwein (table wine). It is made in amphora, 700-liter foudre & stainless. Unfiltered. Lemon, exotic fruit aromas, very nice. Oddly, this is an entry-level wine. Varieties are Chardonnay, Scheurebe & riesling, no zadded sulfites.
Another outstanding domaine here is Weingut Wasenhaus from Germany, it is managed by two guys who spent years in Burgundy and met there, working either alone or together at Pierre Morey, Domaine Leflaive, De Montille, Bernhard van Berg, Domaine de la Vougeraie and Comte Armand. They decided at some point to come back to Germany and start their own thing in baden, having their first vintage very recently in 2016.
__ Baden Nouveau / Avant Premier 2019. Pinot Noir, 15-day carbonic maceration in a Beaujolais style, bottled a few days before this event. Nice tannins with this bitterness feel.
From what I understand, Weingut Mea or Hochdeutsch Wein is managed by Julie Ann Hoch who is German and lives in Hollenburg (Austria) with her husband-winemaker. She makes wines from
__ Mea Elderflower. Sparkling white (this was the end of the bottle), 5 or 6 % alcohol, made with pressed grapes of Grüner Veltliner mixed with herb tea. Very delicate and feminine, such an easy drink ! You wouldn't have me how it was made I would have said it was a 8 or 9 % light wine. Very affordable (11 € if i'm right) and totally natural (biodynamic grapes).
Then I tasted on the same table the wines made by her husband (who was not there that day) at Weingut Christoph Hoch. As said, Christoph is Austrian and he farms biodynamic near Hollenburg just south of the Danube (Krems district).
__ Kalkspitz 2018. a Pet-nat made from Grüner Veltliner, Sauvignon Blanc, plus Zweigelt & Muscat Ottonel. Read this interesting report on this cuvée. 10 % alc. there are two vintages in here if I understand well. Nice wine with discreet aromas.
Rennersistas is a recently-setup winery (2015) near Lake Neusiedlersee, Austria. It is managed by two sisters, Stefanie & Susanne Renner who farm organically 12 hectares of vines. They trained beforehand at Matassa in Languedoc-Roussillon
__ Waiting for Tom 2017. Pinot Blanc & Chardonnay (biodynamically farmed), 3-day skin contact for both on indigenous yeast, unfiltered. Very gentle and delicate touch, good balance, love it. Vines in higher altitude.
Yet another Austrian Weingut farming biodynamically, Weingut Tauss, and on top of that, everything here is unfiltered and without added SO2, Austria rocks ! The domaine has a surface of 6 hectares and it is located in Leutschach in Styria, in the south of Austria. See this interesting profile of Tauss (in German). Rolmand Tauss from what I understand chose to farm
organic after his child got allergy problems, he vinifies without intervention, crediting
__ Welschriesling vom Opok, white. Vinrs planted from 1996 to 2000. Again, unfiltered, no sulfites. Turbid white. Alive in the mouth, rich, feels whole, love it ! (Pdf file for this cuvée).
Stefan Vetter is a German Winzer who started his Weingut in 2010, his vineyard surface is about 5 hectares in Franconia, mostly in Kalbenstein with a collection of small terraced parcels on the slope (Sylvaner and Pinot Noir). He farms biodynamic and vinifies natural and presses with an old press, does no fining, no filtering even on whites. One of Vetter's Sylvaner was among Eric
Here is another Austrian Weingut with Anna and Martin Arndorfer who make wine in Straß im Straßertale (funny name) in the Kamptal north of the Danube. Both have their parents being winemakers and they learnt the job in their family, plus they travelled around, in Italy particularly after Martin graduated from the wine school in Austria. Martin got a lot of inspiration from his experience with Serena Palazzolo (Ronco del Gnemiz) for the whites and Fabrizio Iuli for the reds. Soon after Martin and Anna started their own thing in their home country. Their vineyard surface is 16 hectares. It is not clear if the farming is organic or just "sustainable".
__ Anina Verde 2018, Grüner Veltliner co-fermented with skins of Riesling. Turbid wine, obviously unfiltered. Wow, what a mouth feel ! Majestic.
My last stop was at the table of Andreas Mann who farms 10 hectares organic in Eckelsheim (Rheinhessen). Andreas learnt the job with his family who has been making wine there since 1699. After trying other
__ Non Tradition 2016, a white with a super nice color, turbid (ungefiltert). Grüner Veltliner, crushed by foot, wild yeast fermentation in foudres, some skin maceration, unfined, unfiltered, no added sulfites. Fresh white with acidulous aromas, very nice !
__ Felsen I 2015, Blaufrankisch, stays 3 years in barrels.
__ Grüner Vetliner Erde / Luft / Grass / Reben 2015. You feel the energy, the truth of the wine, really a living wine like only biodynamie can make !
__ Pustza Libre 2018, rosé. Super feminine wine, delicate like rose petals. Claus says besser gekühlt servieren but this was perfect at room temperature like here, you'd have missed its soul if gekühlt...
__ Blaufrankisch Kallstein 2017. A red. Wow, going down with glory, super classy wine !!! Again, don't miss this one.
__ Kalk und Kiesel Rouge. Very interesting wine, so refined and beatiful. integrated chalky tannins.
planted with vines aged 25 to 45, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Welschriesling, Gelber Muskateller, on a clay/limestone terroir with a high ph.
__ Morillon vom Opok 2017. Vivid, feels alive, richness and very, very harmonious ! Can't be but from biodynamic vineyards with such a life !
__ Ex Vero III 2007, Sauvignon Blanc & Chardonnay. Very feminine, subtle & intense at the same time. Also very harmonious, love it ! There may be a couple of grams of residual sugar in here.
__ Ex Vero II 2015, also Sauvignon Blanc & chardonnay. Nice too.
__ Glück 2015, from an unusual clay bottle. Sauvignon & Chardonnay, skin contact 4 weeks in open foudre, unfined, unfiltered, no sulfites. Nice chew with these white tannins, a pleasure.
Austria near the Slovakian border. He farms biodynamic (his father already had converted his vineyard farming very early in 1983), and all the wines we tasted this day had got no SO2 at all. Remember that Rudolf Steiner is Austrian, that may explain many of these guys are not only farming organic but biodynamic. By the way I just learnt through my sister who made some research that we have Austrian ancestry on my mother's side, we knew we had roots in Alsace but further on that side we have an ancestor born in Achau, Austria in 1773 who moved for some reason to Betschdorf, Alsace and settled there (you might suspect I'll show favoritism in my judgements)...
__ NV Revolution Pink Solera, same multi-vintage wine. Varieties : Sankt Laurent, Syrah, Roesler, also made in different vessel types. 11,5 % alcohol, pleasant but lighter substance. Short in the mouth.
__ Numen Riesling 2017, also vinified in different containers, unfined, unfiltered, no SO2 added. Beautiful turbid, wheat-like color. Light tickling on the tongue, energy feel. If i read correctly my notes there was a 7-day skin contact, then one-year élevage in acacia barrel. Easy drinking !
__ Numen rosé 2016. Variety : Sankt Laurent (I read somewhere the vines are selections from the oldest of the region, like 100 years). Part whole-cluster fermentation in amphorae for 6 months, then pressing and blending with regularly-fermented juice of the same variety. Exciting color with chalky notes. Super delicious, don't miss that !
__ Perpetuum 2017, a white from Sauvignon Blanc, picking from a selection of 45-year-old vines that have a good acidity actually. Feel of wholeness, petrol notes, very nice. Very small cuvée for a high-end Sauvignon that is just beginning to show up its quality.
__ Weißburgunder 2017, Pinot Blanc. Feels alive and aerial. I would say no sulfites at all here (they're known to put very little). A pleasure to sip.
__ Spätburgunder 2017, Pinot Noir, élevage 12 months in barrels, and in stainless steel after that.
__ Spätburgunder Vulkan 2017. Looks filtered.
botanicals (nettle, elder) macerated with the pomace got from her husband's vinifications. Very interesting concept which revisits the ancestral ways when farmers would use the pomace for a refermentation (adding water) for an everyday light wine, just that here she adds herb tea.
__ Mea Nettel, another natural sparkling, also made with pressed Grüner Veltliner refermenbted with nettle tea. More bubbles here, the bottle was nearly full. Less seductive than the former. Here again, all natural (biodynamic grapes) and no added sulfites.
Pic on the side from Julie-Ann's website
He is a 12th-generation winzer and he started his domaine in 2013 taking out 5 hectares from his family and growing his surgface to the present 12 hectares (see his profile here).He of course also vinifies naturally.
__ Rosé Rurale 2018.Pet-nat rosé.There may be a misspelling here, in French we would say rosé rural, but he maybe intended "rosé méthode rurale"). Made with 2 varieties (one white), Blauer Portugieser and Muscat Ottonel. No notes but I'm sure I loved it.
with Tom Lubbe and at Shobbrook Wines in Australia, oddly with another Tom (Shobbrook). They also trained in South Africa, at Testalonga. The domaine is wholly biodynamic since 2018. Read this well informed article (in German) on the sisters
work. Here is another visit report (in English) with pictures.
__ Welschriesling 2017. Also turbid (unfiltered). Vines at lmow altitude on sandy, poor soil. One-week skin contact, whole bunches.
__ Waiting for Tom rosé 2017. A rosé blend of 2 varieties, Zweigelt, Blaufränkisch. Very light color. Some astringency but OK.
__ Superglitzer 2018, a red made with 4 varieties, Blaufränkisch, Zweigelt, Sankt Laurent & Rösler. Relatively light color for a red. Chalky feel in the mouth, already nice but you feel it will be even better in a couple of years. This is the 1st time they make this cuvée. My approval, don't miss this one also ! And to the sisters : keep making it the same way...
__ Waiting for Tom red 2017. They suffered from frost that year and they changed the blend. Nice red. 60% Blaufrankisch 30% Sankt Laurent 10% Pinot Noir Zweigelt & Blaufränkisch (usually : Sankt Laurent, Zweigelt, Blaufränkisch).
patience, observation and acceptance of the natural factors as central to winemaking. Picture on left : Roland Tauss with Alex Zülch, who organized this tasting and imports the wines.
__Chardonnay vom Opok 2018, clear color. So vibrant a wine, and such an energy on the tongue !
__ Sauvignon Blanc Hohenegg 2017. Fermented on skins for 14 hours, élevage in oak barrels for 11 months, just in time to leave room for the following vintage i guess, in order to really not use sulfur even in the empty barrels. More power and alcohol feel here.
__ Sauvignon Blanc Urban 2017. Two-week maceration on skins, élevage 2 years in barrels. Acerbic notes from the skin contact, interesting character. Such a long length in the mouth ! More info here.
__ Roter traminer H 2017. 2-week skin contact, 2 years in barrels again. Color more like gold. Super nose of orange jam, splendid aromatics, very complex, lots of things come and go...
Asimov's best wines list recently.
__ Sylvaner 2018, barrel sample, no added sulfites and I guess unfiltered. Vivid and light.
__ Sylvaner Steinenterassen Muschelkalk 2017. There was a bit of SO2 added here. Very harmonious wine, and feel of wholeness, love it ! I'm told SOP2 when added is between 12 and 20 mg. We had this wine again at home and really, there was no pre-judgement on my part and it was love on first sip. Sylvaner rocks when made by this guy !
__ Sylvaner Steinterassen Sandstein 2017. Vetter is making terroir wines with Sylvaner, very interesting, here the vines are on limestone soil. The wine is indeed more mineral, more stony.
__ Sylvaner GK 2016 (Gambacher Kalbenstein) on clay and limestone soil. Good balance and energy feel here !
__ Sylvaner Schale, Stiel & Stengel 2016 [skins, stems and stalks]. Maceration on skins for more than 20 months. Quite turbid. A bit more white tannin feel as you can expect, and very aromatic with among others, lemon zest.
__ Sylvaner Himmelslücke 2017, vines on top of the hill, early picked. Lots of acidity, vivid wine, sharp, here is yet another beautiful terroir expression.
__ Müller-Thurgau per Se 2017, from old vines. Skin maceration in stainless steel. Unfiltered, no additives. Wholeness feel here, awesome, love it !
__ Terrassen 1958, vines planted in 1958, this is a complanted parcel with many varieties together. 650 bottles, confidential volume. Nice, enjoyable wine, a pleasure.
__ Steilterrassen 2018, Riesling & Welschriesling fermented together. Quite concentration feel on the tongue, you feel it's a nice wine but it may be early to enjoy it at its best.
things in his like ljoining the Army and stdying economy he ended coming back to the family winery with the project of making his own style of small-batch wines.
__ Cuvée Weiß 2018. Turbid white. If i understand my erratic writing this white was mase from 4 varieties. I can't read another sentence, handwriting too messy...
__ Riesling Purpur 2018. Turbid. Wow, nice wholeness feel on the palate, love it !!
__ Riesling Purpur 2017. Brillant, neat palate feel, alive and balanced, with silky tannins.
__ Grauburgunder Calx 2017; made from Grauburgunder which is called Pinot Gris in France. Vinified half with skin contact in barrels, half direct pressed. Nice intensity and tannin feel.
wonderful review of great austrian natural wines
Posted by: Michael | November 25, 2020 at 06:33 PM