Neusiedlersee DAC tasting

The first official tasting since the introduction of the new Neusiedlersee DAC area in February/March 2012 attracted quite a big crow of #winelover-s. The tasting was perfectly organized by Wein Burgenland and all 4 DAC areas were featured in this tasting.

As I was mainly interested in the new Neusiedlersee DAC winey the tasting notes show just wines from this/my region. At Artisan Wines we didn't produce a Neusiedlersee DAC as the red wines of the vintage 2011 are still in their barrels waiting to be bottled this February.

Artisan Wines self set rule --> All reds need to stay in barrels for at least one year!

That kept us from making a Neusiedlersee. I'll skip the DAC in the future as no one says Barolo DOCG either. Back to the wines.
First of all I was interested what kind of wines my colleagues produced in this good vintage 2011 and even more important, is there a kind of common unique style and can a sense of place be tasted in the wines.

Zweigelt, in my personal opinion, should show flavors of cherries and sour cherries on the nose, with a smooth tannin structure and a juicy lingering finish. Not to high in alcohol as there is normally not enough tannin structure to carry this alcoholic weight and the wines get quite imbalanced very quickly.

The tasting showed some very good examples of this variety with all above mentioned attributes but on the down side was clearly that there was no common style. Within a range of 39 wines there were wines with clear sign of oak, no oak at all, moderate alcohol levels, super high alcohol levels (up to 14,5% abv!), super fruitf orward to kind of no fruit at all wines... short kind of all styles available.

The benefit for the consumer buying a DAC/DOC/AOC wine is clearly to get a wine showing a certain style no matter which producer is on the label. I.E. All Barolos may taste quite the similar for the average producer but they are clearly different from Barbarescos. I'm not sure if I am able to taste the difference between a Neusiedlersee to a Zweigelt from the thermal region. But I should be able according to the guidelines for a DAC wine in Austria. A clearly defined style might be very helpfull regarding this issue.

There is still some work ahead to sharpen the wine profile within the our region. Artisan Wines will produced a Neusiedlersee Reserve from the vintage 2011. I'm quite interested to taste this wine in comparison to the other Neusiedlersee Reserve wines. I hope that they have more in common than the Neusiedlersees I've tasted now. But on the other hand this was the first vintage and we will go further step by step ;-)

Note: All wines were tasted open in a rather loud and hectic environment. Only wines rated "Good/Very Good" or higher are listed here.
s/s ... stainless steel

1. Weingut Maria Heiss - very good - 12.5% abv, fermentation s/s, maturation big barrels
fruity, fresh cherries, soft tannin structure, very balanced, good length, a nice typical Zweigelt.

2. Alexander Koppitsch - very good - 13% abv, fermentation vats, maturation s/s
cherry fruity, grainy structure, good balance btw acid and tannins, interesting and complex, lingering.

3. Weingut Loos - good/very good - 13.5% abv, fermentation s/s, maturation s/s
fruity, cherries with hints of red berries, soft tannin structure, lingering.

4. Weingut Temer - very good - 13% abv, fermentation s/s, maturation s/s
pure cherry flavors upfront, fruity, very soft, good tannin structure, lingering.

5. Weingut Wegleitner - good/very good - 13% abv, fermentation s/s, maturation 3/4/5 times used barriques
very typical flavor profile, cherries, fruity, bit CO2 on the palate, good lingering tannins.

6. Weingut Wendelin - very good - 13%abv, fermentation s/s, maturation s/s
very fruit forward, pure cherry flavors, soft tannin structure, lingering.

7. Weingut Fam. Ziniel - very good - 13%abv, fermentation s/s, maturation s/s
super cherry fruity, typical style, lingering, soft tannin structure, very nice.

As always the tasting notes and ratings reflect the personal opinion of the author. Other opinions might differ as we all taste differently!