Wenzel
Wenzel Under Flor Furmint 2019
$ 24.50
Michael Wenzel once again shows that he is an extremely thoughtful winemaker working intuitively with the grapes he loves and not merely following mainstream winemaking doctrines. Furmint was once widely planted in Eastern Austria until phylloxera and the political turmoil of WWII changed all of that and the grape virtually disappeared on the Austrian side of the border of Hungary. His father snuck cuttings in a suitcase back to Rust in Burgenland to replant the historic variety and it has been a focus of the estate ever since. Michael feels that Furmint works better in an oxidative environment rather than reductive stainless steel. In this case he has taken it even one step further to let it develop under a veil of yeast further enhancing the savory and tertiary, thus food friendly qualities of this aromatic white wine that lends itself to easily to tannin structure and full extraction. Complex and ever evolving this is a wine worth quiet contemplation.