Thoughts on the 2020 vintage from southern Burgenland

2020 had a lot to offer. The year had a promising start. However the crunch came quickly. The statement "sufficient rainfall throughout the entire vegetation period" was an understatement. It rained a lot. And then even more so that the rain poured down the Eisenberg in streams in July. Overall a tough year for the vineyard. The whole thing was crowned in the middle of August by hail at a time when the berries were already ripe and soft.

 

A catastrophe?

 

 

No! We already knew one thing before the harvest: there will be no grandiose red wine in large quantities. It was all about selecting.

 

 

And so we began the white wine harvest at the end of August with the Müller Thurgau. A grape variety from an absolute top location which amazes with its various possibilities. The white wines of 2020 are a class of their own. You can look forward to these bottles as much as we look forward to the bottles in our cellar. We constantly taste the wines and it looks very promising: the wines are harmonious and have a great potential. "You never say no to a good wine" is a old wise saying by winemakers. A friend once said: Isn't the rosé the most interesting red wine anyway? Yes! Usually the world of Rosé is a rather small one. They are not that common but still the Rosé is very versatile and rich. Rich in taste especially darker grape varieties like we use for our wines. In general, you could do us a big big favour by not judging the intensity of the colours like: oh wow that one is dark or light. (Of course you can complain about colours like brown, ochre or green). But please just taste them. You never say no to a good wine!

 

 

And what about the red wine? It turned out well too As already mentioned above: it may not be first-rate like our white wine and rosé. Maybe...it also depends on what you like. If you are searching for heavy, full-bodied, deep dark red wines you might not find what you are looking for. That is just not our type of red wine anyway. That is why we like this vintage with its very own coolness a lot. Even the red wine. We like our wine more tight, drinkable and more vivid. But withgreat depth. Honestly we have to complain  just a bit at this point and admit that the hail unfortunately messed up our plans for the red wine. Nevertheless, it was an honour for us.

 

 

Sincerely

 

Edgar Brutler