Herrenhof Lamprecht Furmint of Sandstones 2020

Country: Austria

Region: Vulkanland

Type: White Wine

Grape: Furmint

Farming is organic and the winemaking at Herrenhof Lamprecht is fairly simple. Most wines are destemmed and crushed. To avoid being overly phenolic, there’s very little forced extraction or lengthy skin contact. Typical maceration time is between 36-40 hours. All fermentation is spontaneous, and the only addition is sulfur at bottling, usually around 20ppm total.

Planted back in 2010, Furmint was once a very important grape in the region known as Mosler. Although largely lost due to Phylloxera, its markets cut off due to the Iron Curtain, and the decline of traditional field blends (Gemischter Satz), this grape persists here due to a handful of growers like Gottfried. It’s also ideally suited for climate change.

After a relatively short maceration (12-36 hours), it’s then fermented and aged in 600L oak barrels for one year. The limy sandstone and lack of botrytis both offer something completely new as opposed to the volcanic ridden soils of Somló and Tokaj. The aromatics are jumpy without being forced, the texture is smooth despite zero residual sugar