2015 saw perfect weather conditions during harvest. The challenge was to bring ripe grapes in before they started to get overripe. The vineyards for this are in Sankt Margarethen and Zagersdorf but for this wine Hannes Schuster uses more young vineyards (between 10 and 25 years old). The must is spontaneously fermented in stainless steel tanks and aged in big oak barrels for 18 months. It's bottled without fining and without filtration.
Dark in colour, with earth, spice and brambly fruit on the nose. Pure on the palate in a way that seems more honest than polished, shooting straight to the fruit and those peppery, gravelly, briary characters that Blaufränkisch does so well. Cleansing acidity and squeaky tannins make for a lively, moreish finale. – Ed Merrison, CellarHand