Annual wine tasting in Halbturn

Like every year some winemakers and wine lovers gathered in the local pub in January to taste the wines of the new vintage. Under the guidance of Viticultural consultant of our regional government we blind tasted some 46 wines of the vintage 2011 all of them from exclusively from Halbturn.
Overall the quality of the wines was quite impressive. The rumors going round in the wine scene of a really stellar vintage seems to be true. Especially the reds and among them the Zweigelt flight was really good. Nice fruit expression and enough balance between tannins and acid structure.

My tasting notes are already published in the "wine of the month" page.
Note: the first rating is mine and the number rating is the rating from the viticultural consultant. Many wines were cask samples and definitely in their infancy. Some of them will rest another 2 years in their barrels and change profoundly during this maturation period. As always tasting notes are just an impression of the current state of the wine and do not necessarily reflect the wine true style.

Neusiedlersee DAC .. a few thoughts

I was invited to join fellow winemaker at the concept presentation for the soon to be in installed Neusiedlersee DAC. I took some notes and worte some emails afterwards on some points of this concept regarding minimum!! alcohol levels, presentation dates and the composition of the blend for the Reserve category. But have a look at my notes!

Neusiedlersee DAC presentation - January 16th, 2012

Two different wines will represent the region Neusiedlersee in the future. They will be the only wines allowed to carry the name Neusiedlersee. Till now on the behalf of the Austrian wine law all Quality wines produced within the region Neusiedlersee were allowed to carry Neusiedlersee on the label.

The new wines will need to meet some criteria to be a typical Neusiedlersee or Neusiedlersee Classic. This criteria are:

for Neusiedlersee DAC Classic:

ZW inkl. 15% other varieties,

single vintage

Alc. 12,5% avc minimum

Max 4 g RS

Maturation in stainless steel of big barrels

to hit the shelves not before the 1st March in the year following the harvest

Min 6 Euro

and for Neusiedlersee DAC:

same as above but

Alcohol min 13% abv

Maturation in big barrels of barriques

to hit the shelves not before the 1st September in the year following the harvest

12 Euro minimum

150 euro annual fee and stickers for bottles

1-5000 pcs -  12 Euro Cent

5001-15000 pcs -   9 Euro Cent

15001- and more - 6 Euro Cent

Quality assurance

Austrian Approval number (like all other quality wines) and own regional blind tasting of a special DAC tasting team (Heads of Quality assurance: Mr. Anton Palkowitsch, Mr. Harald Scheiblhofer).

Artisan Wines News in Dezember

Christmas

Unbelievably fast this last year has gone by ... again! In the days of advent the vines and we come to rest the first time since the harvest in September. Our wines are maturing in the tanks and barrels and even the vines, which lost the leafs by now, are relaxing from this years efforts. The winter pruning at Artisan Wines will start traditionally not before January to give our vines some more time to gather strength for the next season.

Artisan Halbturn Red 

Still in time for the Christmas holiday the new vintage of the Artisan Halbturn Red 2009 hits the shelves. This wine was bottled in May and had some time to get some bottle ageing since then.
Vibrant aromas of blackberries, cherries and sour cherries perfectly supported by velvety tannins are making this wine the ideal companion for hearty food and cold winter evenings in front of the crackling fireplace.

Pannonian Christmas Market

The Pannonian Christmas Market located in castle Halbturn is opening today. Find some more information about the dates and program here.

Have a gorgeous advent and some relaxing Christmas holidays.

Artisan Wines News in November

Saint Martin and the new wine

Blessing of the new wines and St. Martins day
Our parton's day "Saint Martin" in Burgenland is today, the 11th of November. According to the legend a flock of geese revealed the hide of Saint Martin and he was made bishop of Tours against his will. In his honour the traditional meal is Martinigoose with red cabbage and dumplings. We recommend as perfect pairing for this dish our Halbturn Red 2008.
The blessing of the wine will be held this Saturday 12th of November at 6 p.m. in the local wine shop in Halbturn. You will have the chance to taste some new wines afterwards.

First wine 2011 
The first wine of the vintage is traditionally our Pure Welschriesling 2011. This wine shows upfront aromas of green apples, hay and white flowers on the nose. On the palate one will find bursting flavors of citrus fruits and spices. This is the perfect partner for your Sunday Schnitzel or as starter on it's own.

New partners
We are delighted to announce two new partners for Artisan Wines. 

Handlavin.se
Peder Molin
http://www.handlavin.se/
Stockholm, Sweden

Die Weinbar
Schottenfeldgasse 92
1070 Wien
http://www.dieweinbar.at/

Enjoy this beautiful fall with new wines and delicious food!

Sincerely
Franz Schneider

Artisan Wines in Sweden

A small step for mankind but a giant leap for Artisan Wines. Our full range of wines will be available via http://www.handlavin.se/ in Sweden.