Schloss Maissau- Ried Neuberg-Schanz Reserve 2018

Vintage: 2018
Varietal: Grüner-Veltliner
Appellation: Weinviertel DAC Reserve
Vineyard Designation: Ried Neuberg-Schanz
Sulphur (SO2): free 23mg/L - total 84mg/L
Sugar: Dry
Acid: 4.7 g/L
pH: 3.54
Production Size: 900 bottles
Altitude: 345m (1132ft)
Vineyard Age: 36 years old
Residual Sugar: 1.1 g/L
Tannin: None
Alcohol %: 12.5

Grapes are farmed organically (ECOCERT) and have been certified since 2016. These grapes were allowed to hang on the vine all the way until October 16th. This gives the wine a very distinctive style- similar to the Smaragd wines of the Wachau. Grapes are hand-picked.

Soil Type(s)
loess top-soil (2 meters deep), bedrock of granite

Neuberg-Schanz is a historical name whose origins are unknown. The harvest date was the 3rd of October 2018. When hand-selected grapes come into the cellar they are destemmed and crushed. The press is sealed to leave the berries for 12 hours of contact with the juice during the slow press to extract more of the typical peppery and ripe aromas from the skins. There is no use of sulphur or other additions to the grapes or must. The juice is inoculated with a neutral and natural yeast to start the fermentation as soon as possible. The fermentation is controlled by temperature at 21°C (70°F). After about 20 days of fermentation, the wine is still in the tank on the lees without sulphur for 8 more weeks. It's left on the fine lees for the next 12 months until bottling. The wine is clear due extended aging without racking and it is bottled unfiltered. It is only sulfured at bottling.

The Schloss Maissau is a small passion project of the Gruber family. They had the opportunity to manage, farm and make wine from the very old vineyards next to the historic 13th century Schloss Maissau castle. In fact, they have documents from year 1114 that reference these vineyards. In 2006, the current caretaker of the castle approached Ewald's dad to revitalize the production of the wines from the castle's grounds. It took seven years to get the chemicals out of the ground, 3 more to apply for organic status. They are certified organic with the 2016 vintage onwards. In total they have 5 hectares and make 4000 cases of Grüner Veltliner wine. This wine got 19 points of 20 from the Austrian Wine Guide (Gault-Millau) . This wine is also the favorite of the owner of Schloss Maissau Ernst Traun. The vineyard is in right front of the castle.

Asparagus, Cauliflower, Artichokes, White Fish, Linguini and Clams, Sushi/Sashimi, Potstickers, Smashed Cucumber, Fish Consomme, Snap Peas, Shellfish, Tilapia, Fried Fish Sandwiches. Fried Catfish

• Vegetarian, Japanese, Chinese, American, Scandinavian