🍹BURGENLANDS BEST 🍹

by Megan Jones

Hey folks, Fionn reporting in this Tuesday.

Still feeling a bit sad after the football this weekend? Me too. I drowned my sorrows with plenty of nice wine and I thought I’d tell you all about it.

A new producer hit the shelves last week and I am pretty pumped about it. Koppitsch could be my favorite Austrian producer atm, sorry Judith Beck. Their family has been farming next to Lake Neusiedl in the shallow slops of Burgenland since forever, at least for the past 500 years give or take. Since 2011 Maria and Alex have taken the reigns and have been on a mission to preserve their family's longstanding wine-making traditions. They take a holistic approach to their vineyard management, lots of biodynamic principles, and a whole lot of love is involved. This care is mirrored in the cellar where nothing is added or taken away. Wines have been made naturally for longer than you’d think! Way back before industrialisation and the like, all wine was pretty ‘natty’. The Koppitsch's are just paying respect to the ways of old with their lean, refreshing and most importantly fun-to-drink wines. I think they sum it up better than I could “We craft natural wine with joy, tickle, complexity, honesty, and soul”.

First up is the cult classic Homok. I have been told by unreliable sources that Dua Lipa is a big fan of this one as per her insta stories. Make of that what you will? Grown on sandy soils this is a juicy blend of Grüner, Weissburgunder, and Sauvignon Blanc. Grapefruity and tropical upfront with a salty finish to keep you coming back for more. As the label suggests this wine will bring the beach right to you. Something you can drink with abandon but there is still complexity if you go looking for it. These won’t be around for long so if you wanna drink like a pop star you’d better move quick.

Rozsa is equally as fun and just look at that colour! I’m sick of pale, thin rosé which everyone seems to want these days. All too often they taste watered down, limp, and just plain boring. This is the complete opposite. Vibrant, hazy, and incredibly flavorsome. I sank a bottle of this at the local Vietnamese and it really hit the spot alongside the warming spice coming from my large bowl of pho. Sour red fruits, a hint of citrus, a little peachy this was giving the whole fruit spectrum. A bit like adult pink lemonade. Thankfully, just in time for the late summer sun.

The pièce de résistance however has to be the Perspective Weiss. A blend of Weissbugnder aka Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay. 75% is directly pressed while the remainder sees a quick 8-day maceration. The result is an absolute blockbuster of a blend. Plenty of limey citrus, a big whack of minerality, and this moreish salinity that just goes on and on. This is the margarita of the wine world. Impeccable drinking. None of that savory thing natural wines can sometimes have this is so pure, precise, and incredibly vivid. Small quantities remain, so you know what to do. 

Take it easy.

Fionn

XOX