2020 Weingut Hajszan Neumann Natural Zweigelt
Regular price £28.99 Sale price £18.99 Save 34%Biodynamically Farmed & Vegan Approved
Our lively wines have subtle corners and edges. And it’s good this way, because we love natural, authentic wines. Each one has a characteristic soul, which develops from the natural flavours of the grapes and the terroir. All this comes to fruition thanks to our biodynamic cultivation. We also work gently and reductively in the wine cellar.
Tasting Notes
The grapes for this Natural Zweigelt come from two particularly old vineyards in Ried Weisleiten on Vienna`s Nussberg. This bright, polished Zweigelt is quite dark and intense, with aromas of black cherries and plum fruit, as well as a subtle touch of herbs and spices. Fine texture and freshness on the palate with an engaging spiciness that leads to a fruity, cool finish.

In the Cellar
Zweigelt from old vines on the Nussberg forms the basis, maceration and longer storage on the skin (9 weeks) leads to an intense and dark berry fruit, as well as a lively tannin structure.
The wine is then not aged in wood, but in concrete eggs, which can breathe in the same way as wooden barrels, but do not bring those typical oak tones nor toasty aromas. Of course, the wine is neither fined, nor filtered, nor sulfurized, just as we do with the mash-fermented white wines of the NATURAL series. After about 6 months of storage, the wine is put together and bottled, and after several months of aging in the bottle, the NATURAL Zweigelt goes on sale in September immediately before the next harvest.
Specifications
| Year | 2020 |
| Bottle Size | 750ml |
| Cultivar | Zweigelt |
| Country | Austria |
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| Units of Alcohol per Bottle | 9.75 units |
| Type | Red Wine |
| Cellaring Potential | Awaiting info |
| Allergen Information | Contains Sulphites |
| Dietary Information |
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| Food Matches | Great companion for stews. |
| Origin | Vienna |
2020 Michael Opitz Sauvignon Blanc Pinot Gris
Regular price £23.99 Sale price £19.99 Save 17%No Tricks, Just Wine
This Sauvignon-Pinot Gris blend is a revelation! A truly sophisticated wine, full of finesse and soft tones, with Burgundy elegance and reserved coolness. A fascinating, sensuous palate, with fully mature flavours, which impresses from the first sip. The herbaceous tang of Sauvignon creates a fine balance of sweet fruitiness and crisp acidity.
Tasting Notes
Producer
Organic, Biodynamic, young, trendy, and Austrian! Michael Opitz is part of the new generation of wine growers, no longer producing mainstream but rather, distinctive, confident wines. The personality of this winegrower is reflected in the style of the wines, which are considered and confident without excessive inclination towards the dramatic. Michael Opitz also particularly values sustainability in the winery. This includes improvements in the vineyard and in the cellar as well as considerations concerning transport, packaging materials and many other aspects.
Alan's Personal Notes
"This one was labelled 'natural' not orange but still a decent colour extracted. With Sauv Blanc being the lead varietal - it’s certainly the more commercial of the two whites he produces. Equally magnificent but still difficult to recognise any particular fruit aromas or flavours - but again multi-layered, complex, and with great length - and again that saline finish. Just shades it to be my favourite of the two - but Di preferred last night. Definitely a winemaker to watch." January 2022
Specifications
| Year | 2020 |
| Bottle Size | 750ml |
| Cultivar | Sauvignon Blanc & Pinot Gris |
| Country | Austria |
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Alcohol content
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13.5% alc vol
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| Units of Alcohol per Bottle | 10.1 units |
| Type | Orange Wine |
| Aging | 10 months in Austrian oak and Accacia Barrels |
| Allergen Information | Almost Sulfur Free |
| Dietary Information |
Organic, Vegan & Vegetarian
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| Origin | Burgenland |
2024 Malat 'Crazy Creatures' Gruner Veltliner
Regular price £19.49 Sale price £15.59 Save 20%Located a mere one-hour drive outside Vienna, the Weingut Malat wine estate has been mastering its art and building its strong reputation for over three centuries. A pioneer in the Kremstal region, this domain is among Austria's most respected. With four different labels featuring strange insects, this Grüner Veltliner-based white is from its Crazy Creatures range!
Beautifully biting, it offers charming minerality, citrus and spice notes.
This wine has four different labels. Illustrations will therefore vary.
Tasting Notes
This is gorgeous, fresh, vibrant and broad Grüner Veltliner that comes from the Kremstal region in Austria. It is a fresh and bright, mouth-watering style of Grüner that begins to show more culinary herbal characteristics so associated with this variety. It's a superb all-rounder of a white that is delicious with a very wide range of cuisine.
History
The brainchild of Michael Malat, the grapes for "Crazy Creatures" are grown in the small Austrian village of Palt, in the wine-growing region of Kremstal. The traditional Malat winery has been making wines in the region since 1722.
Varietal
The flagship grape of Austria, Grüner Veltliner is a natural cross of Traminer and St. Georgen. Grüner accounts for almost 30% of all grapes planted with around 13,500 hectares under vine in the country. The Austrian native has become an international sensation amongst sommeliers worldwide as the perfect food wine due to its high acidity. In Austria it is prized for the easy drinking wine it produces but can also wow the palate with complexity in the right winemaker’s hands. The typical flavor profile is often described as displaying elements of green apple with an unmistakable white pepper spiciness.
Alan's Personal Tasting Note:
This is very interesting. Zesty citric lime fruit, a gravelly minerality, some white pepper spice with a hint of sage intermingle beautifully to give a really interesting complex and flavoursome long lasting white. Definitely a food wine that sommeliers would have a great time matching up!
What 3 words? - Zesty, Prancing, complex
Specifications
| Vintage | 2024 |
| Bottle Size | 75cl |
| Cultivar | 100% Grüner Veltliner |
| Country | Austria |
| Alcohol content | 12% alcohol |
| Units of Alcohol per bottle | 9.4 units of alcohol |
| Type | White Wine |
| Food Matching |
A favourite among sommeliers and wine enthusiasts alike. A white wint that goes remarkably well with a great many dishes. |
| Allergen Information | Contains Sulphites |
| Origin |
Niederösterreich
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| Appellation |
Districtus Austriae Controllatus (DAC), Kremstal |
2020 Helmut Lang Beerenauslese Chardonnay (375ml Half Bottle)
Regular price £25.99 Sale price £17.99 Save 31%Tasting Notes
Full-bodied. Velvety, strong body. Subtle freshness. Ripe composition of pear, apple and honeydew melon. Light buttery tones. A delicately bitter spicy note supports the sweetness very elegantly. Long strong finish.

Wine
These black and mouldy grapes manage to produce an amazing, sweet, dessert wine at the hands of Helmut. Think pears, apples and Honeydew. A slight butteriness and a hint of spice.
Producer
The Langs have been cultivating around 18 hectares in Illmitz, the heart of the Seewinkel in the Neusiedler See wine-growing region, for three generations. The microclimate of the Seewinkel and the partially pure sandy soils create the best conditions for viticulture in the region.
His son, Helmut Jnr, has caught the wine bug too, and now in his mid-20s, is training to take over eventually from his dad. Helmut’s speciality is sweet wines, both from botrytised but also frozen grapes.
In the past, this area of Austria was consistently blessed, year after year, with ideal conditions for the production of sweet wines – both from botrytis-affected and frozen grapes. But times have changed. In recent years the opportunities for Eiswein, which require a minimum nighttime temperature of minus 8 Celcius, have been very rare. Botrytis has become more difficult too: drier conditions increase phenolics and thickness of skins, so these grapes are much less sensitive to the botrytis fungus so vital for the ‘noble’ sweet wines. So paradoxically, harvest dates for these kinds of wine have become later and later.
But somehow Helmut manages to turn out the same great sweet wines year after year, even if quantities are much reduced. It’s astonishing how apparently filthy grapes, still on the vine in January, looking black and very sorry for themselves can transform from ugly duckling to beautiful princess; perfumed and diaphanous. It is a mystical transformation, but one which Helmut manages with great experience and huge skill. His vineyards are located on the Eastern side of the lake around Illmitz. The vines are immaculately trained and all located in the National Parkland which surrounds the lake.
Specifications
| Year | 2020 |
| Bottle Size | 375ml |
| Cultivar | 100% Chardonnay |
| Country | Austria |
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| Units of Alcohol per Bottle | 4.5 units |
| Type | Dessert Wine |
| Food Matching | Pairs perfectly with desserts and cheeses - serve at between 8-10C |
| Dietary Information |
Vegetarian & Vegan |
| Allergen Information | Contains sulphites |
| Origin | Illmitz |
| Appellation | Burgenland |
2020 Weingut Weszeli Grüner Veltliner Langenlois
Regular price £19.99 Sale price £15.99 Save 20%Grüner Veltliner 'Langenlois', named for the winery’s home village, where the vineyard parcels for this wine are located.
Tasting Notes
Juicy, straightforward, fruity and well structured. Has a bit more acidity but also a little more body than in the previous year.
Nose
Inviting creamy nose with aromas of orange zest, fresh meadow notes and apples extremely crisp.
Palate
Juicy with lively fruit, light to medium body, aromas of citrus and quince, filigree in the finish, stimulating and charming.

Producer
Weingut Weszeli, in Langenlois, a now-famous wine village located on the river Kamp where it wends its way down to the Danube at Krems. There is a crazy patchwork of Burgundy-like Cru vineyards which have helped put Austria on the map as a source of world-class whites. The story of this winery echoes that of many others. A former city-slicker, Davis Weszeli struck out in search of something new, with one clear goal: to feel closer to nature. He discovered his calling in the form of a traditional Kamptal winery in 2011, and from then on he has been on a mission to create authentic, unique wines whilst always prioritising sustainability in organic viticulture, and a principle coined by Davis himself: Terrafactum, the importance of the unique nature of the earth and terroir of Kamptal.
Davis makes charming and impressive Grüner Veltliner and Riesling, the two grapes he feels best suits the climate and soils of Kamptal.
There are three levels of Grüner Veltliner - Felix, Langenlois & Käferberg ÖTW, offering a fascinating journey into a grape oft-overlooked for its more famous stablemate, Riesling.
Specifications
| Year | 2020 |
| Bottle Size | 750ml |
| Cultivar | Grüner Veltliner |
| Country | Austria |
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| Units of Alcohol per Bottle | 9.38 units |
| Type | White Wine |
| Cellaring Potential | Awaiting info |
| Dietary Information |
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| Origin | Kamptal |