Blumenthal Kékfrankos '19

ABOUT PETER WETZER

Peter Wetzer is a super small-scale producer in the town of Sopron, Hungary, located on the border of Hungary and Austria. His cellar is in the basement of his 120+ year old home that has been in his family for 5 generations. It is in this incredibly unique environment that Wetzer makes his wines of nature rather than industry. Wetzer says, “I want to make special wines that have personality and identity, delicate wines with character influenced by their origin and heritage, made with traditional grape varieties which translate the sense of place.”

From extinct volcanoes, to near-cliffs that gaze out over Austria’s Neusiedlersee, his terroirs are incredibly unique. In these microscopic plots, everything is done by hand. He works to have very healthy soil, with natural biodiversity, and minimum spraying with copper sulfate and a nettle tincture he makes. He believes in minimal intervention in the vines, never tilling the soil or trimming the leaves. All grapes are hand-harvested, and the vineyards are all fermented separately. Fermentations take place in open topped containers with native yeasts and no additives before being barreled down into used Hungarian oak barrels.

BLUMENTHAL KÉKFRANKOS '19

Blumenthal is a 50+ year-old single vineyard that yields much smaller berries and is planted in deep gravel and silt soils. Much like the estate Kékfrankos, harvest is much later than the acidity would indicate – often finishing picking in early November. The ratio of more skins to juice and a longer growth season gives more tannins than of his other reds but is backed up by more acidity as well. The 2019 was open vat fermented with around 20% whole cluster and 3 weeks total maceration before being barreled down to Hungarian neutral oak for 12 months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered with a small addition of SO2, this one needs some air and loves as much bottle age as it can get.