ABOUT: Occasionally a winemaker gets it All right, wine quality, beautiful labels,and the most striking winery we’ve every seen. This is winemaker Claus Preisinger from the Burgenland village of Gols by LakeNeusiedlersee. He started making his own wine from his dad’s three hectares of vines, his first vintage being 2000. He’s since plowed forward fully embracing biodynamics, expanding his holdings to seventeen hectares, and making meticulous wine. Zweigelt, Blaufränkisch, St. Laurent and last but not least Gruner Veltliner are all grown. We’ve had a few of his other wines, which are terrific, but this one is a bit different, an orange wine that made us like orange wines again. Glorious unsulfured Gruner Veltliner with a funky ass name. TASTE: Erdeluftgrasundreben means Earth, Air, Grass, Vines. The name is fussy and playful, rooted in the name of the single vineyard (Edelgraben) the Gruner Veltliner grapes come from. This is aged in amphora with a month of skin contact making it orange-y. It sits on its lees for a while, no stirring and malolactic fermentation is allowed to proceed. Here, the skin contact lifts things up and the malo adds roundness. There are vibrant aromas and flavors of lemons, green apples, mild pear, oregano, sea salt and a citrus peel tang. A lithe, medium body with a wire of nervy acidity buzzing along the path of the long finish. No sulphur added to boot; you must meet this stunner. PAIR: Fried artichokes, yellow Thai curry, sesame-soy marinated asparagus, wasabi vegetable bowl, cornmeal crusted oyster mushroom Po’boy sandwich, Inari with carrots and tofu musubi.
