Perfect Day, one of our favourite projects, is on one hand a tribute to the eponymous 1972 Lou Reed song where he sums up the simple joys of life into one perfect day. On the other hand it's an ambitious attempt to create a wine to accompany such a day.
The Perfect Day is composed of four traditional grape varieties which are harvested and vinified separately: for the Grüner Veltliner we used 95% whole berries and 5% bunches and fermented them for ten days in open vats. Muscat Ottonel and Traminer passed through the same procedure but with a reduced time on the skins.
The highly aromatic trio shaped by subtle tannins is supplemented by immediately pressed Chardonnay which introduces a cool and crisp texture and a mineral element to the wine.
After maturing the four grapes separately in used barriques for six months they were blended together just before bottling.
Fragrant and elegant, subtle and dynamic. Camomile, white flowers, pebbles and ripe peaches shape the aroma structure but allow other flavours to enter with time and air. It’s texture is compact and tightly-knit, with fine and palpable tannins and an agile acidity. Long and substantial finish. - Gerhard Pittnauer
Pittnauer's wines are elegant, structured, complex and beautifully drinkable - qualities that were highlighted when Gerhard was named 2014 Winemaker of the Year by Falstaff magazine. This, the highest accolade in Austrian wine, shows just how far the Pittnauers have come. It also goes some way to showing what a fiercely gifted individual we have on our hands. But then everything -from the Pitti blend, through the vivid addition-free wines and right up to the devastatingly good single vineyards - will pretty much tell you the same thing.