2019 Zahel Orangetraube "Orange T" (Austria, Wien) $20
The only commercially available wine of the rare white grape, Orangetraube. The grape has a mysterious history, with its origins being unclear. What is known is this:
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Intense peach and apricot fruit, with spicy tones and elegant minerality. Savory and inviting, biodynamic too.
Quite the steal at this price.
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2018 Wenzel Pinot Gris Wild + Free (Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee-Hügelland) $32.50
A skin-fermented Pinot Gris, resulting in an orange wine but with a color closer to red, due to Pinot Gris darker berry color. The phenols extracted through skin fermentation are immediately present on the nose and on the palate, but the wine itself is clean, well structured and crisp. A true gem for fans of orange wine and a staff favorite.
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2018 Hidden Treasures by Moric Nr3: Balaton (Hungary, Balaton) $26.50
This authentic “hidden treasure” comes to you from one-with-nature Austrian mastermind Roland Velich (Moric Winery), who quietly teamed up with a small Hungarian winery to create a mythical Furmint/Riesling blend.
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In collaboration with a small Hungarian winery, Villa Tolnay, this equal blend of sustainably farmed Furmint and Riesling—both high acid, wildly exotic grapes—saw a natural fermentation and an aging regimen in used Hungarian oak and stainless steel. It radiates with pulverized minerals and volcanic stone that reveal an abundant mix of high-toned aromas once introduced to about 15-30 minutes of oxygen: Expect wild white flowers, honeysuckle, white peach skin, under-ripe mango peel, yellow apples, hazelnut, citrus, lemongrass, and a soft touch of exotic spice. It’s lean and laser-like but there’s a surprising amount of heft on the mid-palate that makes it simultaneously fun and serious.
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2018 Moric Hausmarke (Austria, Burgenland) $26
Rotburger (AKA Zweigelt) provides the largest share to this all-together Austrian cuvee, but the wines character is dominated by Blaufrankisch. Maybe that's easier to understand when you consider that Zweigelt is itself a crossing of Blaufrankisch and another autochthonous Austrian variety (St Laurent).
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This is a playful yet serious
wine full of brambly aromas that hint at those of Morgon, or maybe Brouilly.
There's black raspberry, elderberry, black plum, roasted coffee, graphite, camphor, turned earth, and warm spice present. Juicy, and fresh, the kind of wine that disappears first among a crowd of bottles on a table.
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2017 Hidden Treasures by Moric Blaufrankisch Nr. 6: Hannes Schuster (Austria, Burgenland, Mittelburgenland) $34
If you didn't notice we are quite the fan of wines from Moric. After all this is their third wine in this group of five.
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Hannes Schuster of Rosi Schuster, son of one of Roland's (Moric) dear friends, makes a pure expression of Blaufrankisch from 40-50 year old vines from 2 estate vineyards in the village of Sankt Margarethen for Hidden Treasures NR6.
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Light and dark cherries, so pure that you almost go crazy. A spicy seasoning to go with it, the finest tannin and precisely that lime-slate-quartz swab, this mineral game that says: You already know where I'm from!
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