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THE WENDELIN ESTATE

A modern tradition at the Neusiedlersee

AUSTRIA EUROPE

WEINGUT WENDELINANDREAS WENDELINNEUSTIFTGASSE 59

A-7122 GOLSAUSTRIA / EUROPE

TEL +43 / (0)2173 / 2481FAX +43 / (0)2173 / 2481

[email protected]

THE WENDELIN ESTATE

A modern tradition at the Neusiedlersee

Andreas Wendelin

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THE WENDELIN ESTATE

A modern tradition at the Neusiedlersee

Ungerberg and Altenberg, Edelgrund and Gold-berg – for generations these evocative names have been part of the Wendelin vineyards in Gols, in the Neusiedlersee natural park. This is the estate of Andreas Wendelin, who have led this long-established family business now for over two decades. Hardly a day goes by without Andreas Wendelin keeping an eye on the vineyards: “In the vineyards you have to be very accurate and without compromise. A lot can happen under the open sky, which cannot be corrected in the winery afterwards.”

Winter Pruning

The pruning of vines is done by hand, and this starts the year for the Wendelin vineyard in January. With almost 100km of vines, this initial tour takes them right into February. Superfluous shoots have to be pruned from the vines. “The cutting is the first opportunity to influence the

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quality of the vintage”, explains Andreas Wen-delin, who goes personally to every single vine during the pruning and pays attention to its position, constitution and to the wind.As soon as the pruning has been done, the Wen-delins go through each vineyard again in turn, repairing the damage done to the fields by the winter wind and weather.At the beginning of April the vines sprout. Each stock produces up to 15 shoots – more than a wine of high quality can sustain. This means again that the surplus has to be carefully and thoughtfully reduced – field by field, vine by vine. Eight to ten shoots remain on each stock. Andreas Wendelin: “The work on the vines often comes down to a matter of hours. If there is a storm warning, the whole family goes out with all helpers we can find, to fix the vines.”

‘Greencut’ - pruning produces quality

Between the beginning and end of June comes the flowering and with this the time comes for some harsh selection. After the flowering Andreas Wendelin is in the vineyards for a month and counts the bunches on every vine. Depending on the wine they keep between six and 12 bunches,

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with no more than one bunch on any one shoot. The surplus bunches are cut off with scissors. “This thinning is called greencut, because the ground is green with cut grapes, which become humus again and give nutrition back to the vines.”The rigorous pruning is the basis of the quality which distinguishes the Wendelin wines. For the ‘Prophet’ and ‘Poet’, the flagship wines in the selection, after the excess bunches have been re moved the remaining ones are thinned by half to ensure a consistent ripening. Only six bunches are left. For the rest of the wines between eight and 12 bunches are allowed to keep growing. The greencut means that the vitality of the vine, the amount of sun, water and nutrition, is concen-trated in a few grapes. This is how the grapes can develop such rich aromas and intensive tastes. In dry years the thinning makes sure that the grapes have enough water. In wet years it prevents the grapes rubbing against each other, which causes the grapes to burst and mould to develop.

Before the harvest

Andreas Wendelin: „Of course the weather can be extreme here as well. But the climate at the

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Neusiedlersee is unique for winegrowing. Here we have the most hours of sunshine in Austria, it rains relatively little, and the lake with its huge amount of water creates constant temperatures and humidity.“Around the 10th of August the red wine grapes turn blue, and the white wine grapes turn into a golden yellow. The ripening time of the grapes has started. For the Wendelins the work in the winery now begins. The oak barrels must be washed, the pumps checked and the press house cleaned up as they prepare for the harvest. The long-since ordered barrels arrive. “For a year I have been thinking: What will I do with the gra-pes that are growing here? How will I do the best with what I’ve got? Actually you know before the picking what kind of vintage it will be and which barrels you will need – although you can always be surprised.”

The Experience of generations

To guess the character of vintage is a matter of observation and experience. Have the nights in August been cool? Good for the white wine. Lots of sun in September and mild temperatures in the nights? Good for the red wine. A lot of rain?

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Good for the sweet wine. Andreas Wendelin has not only his own experience to rely on, but also that of his father and grandfather. There are notes going back years on the hours of sunshine and humidity during the year, countless tastings by grandfather, father and son, a wealth of know-ledge passed down by word of mouth.For the decision when to start the picking, Andreas Wendelin relies on his intuition. “The taste and how they look tell me far more than the measuring of sweetness or acidity.” The grapes are ripe when the seeds don’t taste bitter any more. This goes together with the reduction of moisture in the fruit. When the grape has become slightly wrinkled, then it is time for the picking.

Autumn is picking time

The harvest is tied in with carefully worked-out logistics. “You need to know when the picking happens in each vineyard so you can plan the filling of the fermentation vats.” The picking is done by hand and keeps the whole family plus ten to fifteen experienced helpers busy for weeks until late October. ”Good people”, says Andreas Wendelin, “are the linchpin of the harvest.”

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At the harvest of the red wine grapes, all the bunches infected with the grey mould Botrytis have to be sorted out immediately and thrown away. Only experienced pickers can reliably sort them out directly on the vine.The Botrytis is good for the white wine as it de -hydrates the berries and concentrates sugar, acid and minerals. But it is fatal for the red berries. The laccase developed by the mould des troys the pig-ments of the grape and changes it slowly into a rosé. The harvest needs absolute dryness. Every bit of moisture on the grapes or in the harvest tubs thins the wine and increases the danger of mould. The picking begins in the middle of September in the earliest-ripening vine yards, for the fruity white young wine Jahr gangscuvée.

Variety by variety

After this the time comes to pick the Chardonnay and the Pinot Blanc. The reaching of full ripe-ness dictates the picking time. Andreas Wendelin allows up to 5% of Botrytis there, because it gives the heavy white wines their body and a nice note of honey. When the grapes for the white wine have been brought in, the picking for the St. Laurent and Zweigelt starts, towards the end of September. In the best vineyards like the

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Un der berg or the Edelgrund, Wendelin waits for the harvest until the peak of the ripening – this harvest he presses to a pure Lagenweine in small oak barrels. He then waits just a little bit longer for the carefully tended grapes for the top wines, especially the ‘Prophet’ and ‘Poet’. Late in the year the harvest ends with the picking for the delicate sweet wines. Thanks to the handpicking, the grapes make it to the pressing house unda-maged and whole.

The art of winemaking

The further the picking goes, the more the work moves into the winery. “In the winery the art begins, the careful work, where I decide a lot with my gut instinct and let myself be led by my senses”. The white wine grapes are first separated from their stalks, then squashed slightly in the pres-sing house and after a few hours of fermenting, pressed. The Chardonnay and the Sauvignon Blanc are matured in big oak barrels and barriques by Andreas Wendelin into intensive Qualitätsweine. Wendelin filters the classically prepared white wines like the Welschriesling in January; they reach bottle ripeness in March. The white wines

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matured in barriques stay in with the yeast, which is stirred up once a week – a process called bato-nage in the business. It takes until July or August before these wines reach bottle ripeness.“Burgenland is actually said to be a red wine region, but we have also a fantastic white wine growing here. Our main focus lies on the red wine, the white wines are a quarter of our pro-duction”, explains Andreas Wendelin.

The red Wendelin wines

The separated red wine grapes end up in the fermentation vats – open barrels and tanks – where they ferment for a week. Then the fermen-ted grapes stay for another two weeks before they are taken out of the fermentation vats and are pressed. In this way you can transfer the most tannins from the skins into the wine. The wines for the ‘Prophet’ are reduced by a fifth of their juice before the fermentation. This greatly increases the compactness and opulence of the finished product.To start the fermentation Andreas Wendelin uses exclusively natural yeast. He starts with the airing already during the main period of fermentation. During this the wine gets pumped off and is

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poured back into the barrel over the must, made from the grape skins and the pulp of the fruit. The early airing stabilises the colour, opens up the must slightly, mixes it and keeps it supple.

The process is different with the St. Laurent, where Wendelin is experimenting with cold mus-ting, which produces special fine fruity wines. The must is cooled, then during the weeklong draining the wine takes in aroma, bouquet and colour from the grape skins. After the draining has finished the must gets warmed up to start the fermentation – a critical moment which can lead to a misfermentation if the required 20 de -grees are not reached quickly enough. If the fast warming succeeds, then the road is open for an elegant St. Laurent.Until the end of November the red wines are kept at a constant temperature of 20 degrees, to let the biological breakdown of the acids take place. During this stage the aggressive malic acid turns into mild lactic acid. By the end of November Wendelin moves the wine for the first time from one barrel to the other.The air that reaches the wine draws out the yoghurt aromas that develop during the acid breakdown and stabilises the colour.

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Ageing in Barriques

Wendelin ages his Qualitätsweine in big barrels - the wines for the Prophet and other top labels are aged in barriques. Every year he replaces a third of his barriques with new ones. His larger oak barrels he gets from four or five different barrel makers; the origin is not as important as the right degree of workmanship. “The barriques in our cellar are all medium to medium-plus toasted”, explains Wendelin, “the wine should get more aroma but should not taste of wood.”The stronger the wine, the more wood he can integrate. The wines for the Prophet are aged gently and individually in the new barriques.

Fermentation and acid reduction require continu-ous testing: “Wine is alive. You have to be there all the time.” In the barriques the wines keep the yeast, which gets stirred up once a week, so the wines matures unfiltered. “In that way the wood integrates itself better into the wine, so it becomes rounder, creamier and smoother.” The natural cloudiness also preserves the wine from oxidation.

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Hand-selected Cuvees

Every three months Andreas Wendelin moves the wines from barrel to barrel. After one and a half years of ageing it is time to blend the Prophet and the Poet. “I know by then, which barrel has developed which character.” After blending it takes another half year of ageing before the Prophet and Poet are finally ready for bottling. The result of this rigorous selection process is a few barriques of rich, ruby-garnet wine with a full, fruity body roasted aromas and great potential.

Wines like sculptures

Blending means combining the best points of cer-tain wines to create a completed one. For the vint-ner there is a great deal of room for manoeuvre here, and it takes a lot of sensitivity to utilise it. That, says Andreas Wendelin, is similar to making a sculpture. Experience comes from try ing, time after time, to explore the potential of the grape to the full. Impatience has no place here - clocks move very slowly when you are making wine. “Sometimes you need five or six attempts until it finally works. And for each attempt you need a whole year.

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Every year we try to increase this potential. This is a continuous challenge, and it never lets you reach the end.” So what is the attraction of wine making? “The knowledge that you can make somebody really happy with a great wine.”

Weingut Wendelin Andreas Wendelin

Neustiftgasse 59, A-7122 Gols Austria / Europe

Tel: +43 (0)2173 / 2481 [email protected]

www.wendelin.at