2019 Tschida Felsen I - Blaufrankisch, Burgenland, Austria. 750ml.
The oldest vines of Blaufrankisch, grapes are hand harvested, de-stemmed, and crushed by foot. The juice ferments in large barrels with indigenous yeast and no racking. It spends 2 years ageing in 500 to 1500-litre barrels and is bottled without fining or filtering and no addition of sulphur.
Christian Tschida cultivates 10 hectares of old vines in the Neusiedlersee region of Burgenland. His vineyards are planted on sandy gravel, schist, and limestone soils and have been in the family for 4 generations. This area of Burgenland has a unique microclimate due to the moderating influence of the vast Lake Neusiedlersee nearby.
Christian has a very hands off approach in his vineyards, preferring to let nature take its course. His wild looking parcels are instantly recognisable - overgrown with cover crops that both preserve biodiversity in the vineyards and force the vines to bury their roots deep into the soils in search of nutrients.
For Christian, the crucial decision comes at harvest time when he is meticulous about picking the fruit at the optimal point of ripeness - something he judges by taste rather than by measuring the technical sugar levels. In the cellar Christian is both experimental and traditional - constantly trying new vinification techniques but never employing high tech equipment. His wines are all foot stomped, spontaneously fermented in closed tanks that sit outside in the shade, and racked with the help of gravity.
Christian is spearheading a new wave of great Austrian producers with a non-apologetic, genuine and credible approach.
