2018 Gut Oggau Antanasius 

Burgenland, Austria

Located in eastern Austria, on the western side of the Neusiedlersee. You’ll find the quaint town of Oggau and the winery Gut Oggau.

Gut Oggau looks back on a long existence, which is continued today in a modern sense by Stephanie and Eduard Tscheppe-Eselböck. After falling in love, they painstakingly restored a 17th century winery that had been abandoned for 20 years, including its 200-year-old screw press. The vines’ 20-year period of neglect was fortunate, as this allowed for all pesticide and chemical treatments to be washed away, and they were able to immediately begin working on the vines biodynamically, where they are now fully Demeter certified. Their biodynamic viticulture and the concentration on the essentials lead to a very tight assortment of regional and authentic wines, each with its own distinctive traits and personality. They described these traits to Jung Von Matt, who then translated them into the beautiful portraits that adorn each bottle. The children, Atanasius, Theodora, and Winifred, are wines that are more forthright, light, bold and energetic. The parents, Joschuari, Emmeram, Timotheus, and Josephine, come from vineyards with a little more direct sun exposure and therefore more ripeness producing wines with more body and power. And finally the grandparents, Mechtild and Bertholdi, are from two single vineyards of older vines that produce the most traditional wines from their lineup. Most of the vineyards are field blended, and therefore there is little mention of the grape varieties used, but they do work with 6 main grape varieties– Blaufrankish, Zweigelt Grüner Veltliner, Welchriesling, Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), and Gewurtzraminer.

Antanasius, Wiltrude and Joshuari’s son, like his sister Theodora, has a very affectionate and easy-going nature that is typical of the inhabitants of the Burgenland, and is an attractive young man, but in no way superficial. He still retains some hidden qualities, which makes him even more interesting.

Made from 35 year old Zweigelt and Blaufrankisch vines grown in limestone gravel. The grapes are hand harvested, destemmed, and fermentation takes place in used 500, and 1200-liter barrels, with the juice spending about 3 weeks in contact with the skins. The wine goes through elevage in the same barrels for about 12 months, with no batonnage (stirring settling lees back into wine). The wine is bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with zero addition of sulfur.

Show up to thanksgiving dinner with a bottle of Antanasius and you will be the hit of the party. This wine pairs excellent with roast turkey, glazed ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and all the other awesome comfort foods of fall.

$48.95