2017 Pittnauer Pitt Nat

Pittnauer

Austria / Burgenland / Pittnauer

Like other groundbreaking movements, the natural wine avant-garde didn't come out of the blue. Most of its methods were already used before but a lot of them were forgotten or neglected in times of increasingly unifying and global trends. Sparkling wines produced in the methode ancestrale - so called "pét nats" (pétillant-naturel) - are a prime example. Pét nats run through a second fermentation in the bottle and their production demands care and experience. Done well, they produce great results. They're without any doubt more interesting and quaffable than whatever comes out of a pressure tank. Which is why they were reborn by a group of young French winemakers some years ago and in the meantime made their leap to Gols.
The Pitt Nat Rosé comprises Blaufränkisch, Merlot and Syrah grapes which are whole bunch-pressed, spontaneously fermented and bottled with 20-25 grams of residual sugar still left to ferment. This happens in the bottle where the remaining sugar transforms into carbon dioxide and alcohol. After a December night out in the cold (to freeze the yeasts in the bottleneck) our pét nats get disgorged and refilled with the same wine.
Fun to drink at breakfast, lunch, dinner and even at New Year’s Eve – although summer is the season where it performs best. Copper-coloured mousse. Unifies cranberries, rose petals and grapefruit. Bone-dry, energetic, dynamic and enticing. Vibrant, fresh and light-hearted finish. - Gerhard Pittnauer

March, 2019

Anne Krebiehl MW,

Wine Enthusiast

92 points

Creaminess on the nose has the peppery edge of just ripe red fruit, reminiscent of savory rose hip and red currant. There clearly is a little funk on the nose, but the light palate is a hedonistic, weightless moment of uncommon, creamy, fizzy lightness. The wine seems weightless, fresh and wonderfully red-fruited with its tender tartness. Frivolous perhaps, but delicious, light and dry, too.

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About Pittnauer

It's 20-odd years since Gerhard and Brigitte Pittnauer took over the winery in Gols near Lake Neusiedl in Burgenland, bordering Hungary at the eastern edge of Austria. Over that time they've pushed the boundaries of Austrian red winemaking, in particular with St Laurent and Zweigelt. But then there's the Blaufränkisch and - have you ever tried Burgenland Pinot Noir? You must. In 2001 the construction of the fittingly striking production hall in the middle of the vineyards allowed for a quantum jump in quality and quantity.

About

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.