Neumeister Sauvignon Blanc Klassik 2016
$ 24.50
Neumeister works roughly 35 hectars in the town of Straden in Eastern Styria. His soils are rich in limestone from an ancient sea bed that covered all of Styria in the Tertiary, but also from a river that once deposited chalky soils here as Alpine runoff.
After meticulous work in his organically farmed vineyards, grape quality if further improved by carefully and slowly cherry-picking grapes on the sorting table. Neumeister likes extended maceration to add complexity to this wines.
The Sauvignon Blanc Klassik then ferments in steel tanks and stays on the fine lees until spring. The resulting Sauvignon Blanc is juicy and herbaceous, with notes of cassis, capers, parsley and green olives as well as sea salt, pepper and paprika.
On the palate this wine is dense and compact, deeply spiced with notes of juniper berry, laurel and hints of algae, followed by a salty finish.
2016 was a disastrous vintage for the Neumeister brothers as late frost destroyed most of the vines shoots over night. The little that was left, about 20% of the usual crop, received a lot of love and care and it's bitter-sweet to taste the amazing wines this vintage produced in such small supply.