Claus Preisinger, "Puszta Libre" 2018

This is Claus’s homage to good beaujolais, the easy-drinking “free” red from a “free” place (the Puszta, Pannonian Lowlands). Lively and lovely, light-bodied, care-free.

Vinification: 80% Zweigelt, 20% St. Laurent, the grapes are hand-harvested from several vineyards around Lake Neusiedl. The vines are an avg. of 25 years-old, grown in limestone soils. Spontaneous fermentation with only native yeasts occurs in stainless steel, and the wine is aged for 5 months in used barrels before bottling. Unfined, unfiltered, minimal to no SO2. <12.5%ABV

Producer Spotlight
Lake Neusiedl, a 20-mile long pool of freshwater never deeper than a meter, is the central topographical feature of Burgenland where Claus Preisinger has been making biodynamic wines for nearly two decades, increasing output and quality with seemingly every vintage. This is an area comparable to Bordeaux’s Médoc, with its mild Pannonian climate, and the Leitha Hills not far from marshland. Historically, some of Austria’s greatest reds and sweet wines have been made here. Landing on our shelves are the much-loved cuvées: Puszta Libre! (Puszta=Plains - a reference to the land that extends east into Hungary), Kalkundkiesel, named for the relevant grapes’ soils (Kalk=limestone, Kiesel=Gravel), and finally, his pét-nat rosé Ancestral.