Moric Huasmarke Weiss Gruner Veltliner Chardonnay 2023

For more than a decade, winemaker Roland Velich made an intense study of the world's greatest wines of terroir with the explicit goal of finding "that thing”, as he puts it, that a wine must possess in order to achieve greatness. When he felt he'd learned enough, he set out to make an Austrian red wine that belonged in the same pantheon as the great Grand Cru Burgundies, the Northern Rhône and the legendary vineyards of Barolo. So began the Moric project. Its medium is Blaufränkisch, expressed through ancient vines in a challenging growing region, meticulous biodynamic viticulture, obsessive sorting and fairly primitive winemaking techniques. The Burgenland Blaufränkisch is a brilliant starting point, while this beguiling variety reaches its zenith in the old-vine wines from Lutzmannsburg and Neckenmarkt.

Burgenland, Austria. Pale yellow, clear. A bit of barnyard dissipates quickly, then white pepper, a hint of fennel on a background of yeast. It is crisp and peppery on the palate, a hint of sweetness, citrus and the finish has some fennel. This is a rather special and interesting blend of Chardonnay and Gruner Veltliner.