Hager Matthias, "Sauvignon Blanc" 2019

Producer Profile: Despite its northerly limits, the region in the northeast of Austria is known as “Lower Austria," a growing area most associated with the well-renowned and powerful Grüners and Rieslings the country produces. Some sub-regions you may have heard of because of these wines include the Kamptal, Kremstal, Wachau, and Wagram, to name a few. In the first of these regions, Kamptal – so-named because of the river Kamp – Hager Matthias has worked 12 hectares of biodynamic vines in his small hometown of Mollands since the age of 21. He’s got serious experience to boot; he knows this place as intimately as anyone. His wines carry buttoned-up mischief. Takes on site-specific Grüner, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, and Zweigelt fizzers demonstrate the feeling of enough rootedness to become playful –experimentation among the background in an otherwise resplendent & mercifully simple picture. Beauty and fun.

Vinification: 100% Sauvignon Blanc from a single parcel in Kamptal. Grapes are hand-harvested, pressed and fermented with wild yeasts in stainless steel. The wine rests on the lees for a short period and is then racked into another stainless steel tank, where it rests for 9 months. Bottled unfined, unfiltered, with little to no SO2.

Tasting: This is a pristine, fruit driven summer white, with notes of chamomile, golden delicious apples and lime zest. Creamy in texture, but with a sharp undercurrent of acidity to hold it all together. Absolutely stunning.