Weingut Felsner Zweigelt Eiswein “Hesperia”

WHY WE LOVE IT

• Not only the concentration of aromas, but also the amazing balance of sugar and racy acidity meshes in an ethereal package, making this wine elegant and seductive.
• Each bushel produces only one-tenth of the juice of autumn harvested grapes. It takes every single grape from an entire vine to yield just enough juice to make 1 bottle of ice wine! That is ten times the amount of grapes used to make regular wines…Add the risk of grapes being stolen by hungry birds, or damaged by hail or harsh winter winds, and you can understand why the harvest is so precious!

Composition:  100% Zweigelt

Elaboration:  Harvested after deep frost. Exceptional, fully ripened and totally healthy grapes, naturally frozen on the vine, are hand picked.

Tasting Notes: Brilliant pink-orange hue. Intense ripe fruit flavours. Pungent plum, orange zest and lychee, shown in great purity. A sweet entry leads to a firm, full-bodied palate with balanced sweetness. Lengthy, ripe, flavorful finish.

PRESS

2016 – 96 Wine Enthusiast

PRODUCER BACKGROUND

Manfred Felsner cultivates 15 hectares of vineyards from some of the Kremstal wine region’s most expressive sites, all surrounding the picturesque villages of Rohrendorf and Gedersdorf.

Unusually old vineyard stock is what sets Felsner apart from their creative/indie Austrian peers – More than half of Felsner’s Gruner Veltliner parcels are classified as “old vine,” and most of these root 30+ feet deep, adding an extract and substance to finished wine that has to be experienced to be believed.

White wine vinification is undertaken using a minimalist philosophy with no more than 1.5 bar pressure (about as much as a good handshake), and red wines are fermented very traditionally in the family’s 450 year old gravity-flow cellar, mostly aging in large format Austrian casks.