Product Description
91 points Falstaff
"Light golden yellow, silver reflections. Delicate meadow herbs, nuances of white apple and peach, fine mineral touch. Medium body, delicate honeydew melon, finesse-rich acid curve, lemon-like, piquant finish."
Vinous Reverie Notes
Importer: Johannes Trapl founded his winery in 2003 when he was just 25 years old. It was Johannes' grandfather that planted most of the family estate’s vineyards in Carnuntum, a region known at the time for big, inexpensive Zweigelt wines. After working for Cardinale winery in California, Johannes took over the responsibility of managing the small family winery with initially only half a hectare (1 acre) of vineyards and also worked for the nearby Muhr-van der Niepoort estate. Today, together with Dorli Muhr of Muhr-van der Niepoort, Johannes Trapl is coinstigator of the renaissance of Spitzerberg, a small extension of the Little Carpathians made of limestone and schist, which can produce wines with extraordinary elegance and minerality. The wine-growing region Carnuntum stretches from the eastern limits of Vienna to the border of Slovakia. The vineyards are dispersed in three hilly landscapes: the Leitha Mountains, the Arbesthaler Hills near Gottlesbrunn and the Hainburger Mountain. Heavy loam and loess soils and sandy gravelly soils dominate the slopes of the Arbesthaler Hills in Stixneusiedl. The hot summers and cold winters that characterize the Pannonian climate, the proximity of the moderating effects of the Danube River and Lake Neusiedl allow red grapes to ripen perfectly.
While Carnuntum is more widely known for red wines, some of the oldest vines are in fact white. In tandem with climate change and trends, many are being sadly ripped out. Johannes is taking two approaches to save these vines. One is to make skin contact wines and the other is a blend utilizing a variety of different fermentation and aging regiments. The 2019 Weiss is 80% is whole cluster pressed (60% Gruner Veltliner 25% Weissburgunder, 15% Welschriesling) while 20% of the Gruner sees 2 days of maceration. Everything is combined and fermented in a combination of stainless steel, 1000L clay Amphora and 500L barrel. This is followed by 6 months of aging and settling in stainless and Amphora.