Bottler: Meinklang, Hauptstraße 86, A-7152 Pamhagen / Austria
In the glass
Colour
Dark purple-red with a violet rim and a deep, opaque core.
Nose
Wild dark cherries and plums meet black pepper, clove and allspice – unkempt, tousled and full of energy.
Palate
Juicy red fruit, lifted by fresh acidity and a touch of volatile acidity for a certain funkiness; accompanied by firm, youthful tannins and a spicy note of elderflower and blackcurrant leaf.
Character
An uncomplicated, lively red wine with great drinkability and depth – wild, fresh and full of personality, far removed from any polishing.
Pairing
Fennel sausage, grilled sardines with coarse salt and fennel seeds, or crostini with pickled beetroot.
Notes
The vines are not pruned and regulate their own yield – resulting in small-berried grapes with intense aromatics and extract. The name “Graupert” describes the tousled, wildly overgrown vineyard in the Burgenland dialect. Demeter-certified, spontaneously fermented and vinified by gravity in concrete eggs.
Tasting note
Colour & appearance
Dark purple-red with a violet rim and a deep, almost impenetrable core – a wine that reveals its wild origins even in the glass.
Nose
Untamed and vibrant: dark cherries and plums, accompanied by a spicy medley of black pepper, clove and allspice. Slightly rough, somewhat boisterous – precisely as it should be.
Palate
Juicy and direct, with radiant red fruit, fresh acidity and a subtle, animal-like spiciness. The tannins are young and somewhat unpolished, yet they lend the wine structure and grip. Notes of elderberry and blackcurrant leaf provide a tart, green edge. Not a wine for contemplation – one for drinking.
Finish
Tart and juicy at once, with a slightly volatile note that fuels rather than disrupts the drinking flow. The glass empties faster than you might think.
Terroir & origin
Pamhagen in the Seewinkel, at Austria’s lowest point, where the flat steppe landscape surrounding Lake Neusiedl shapes the Zweigelt. Here, the Michlits family runs a Demeter-certified farm, interweaving viticulture, livestock farming and cereal cultivation into a closed-loop cycle. More than 300 Angus cattle supply the fertiliser for the soils.
Grape variety & vinification
Zweigelt as you rarely experience it: the vines are not pruned and regulate their own yield. This results in numerous small-berried clusters with less must but greater aroma, extract and complexity. The vineyard looks correspondingly tousled – “Graupert” is what this is called in the local dialect. In the cellar, Werner Michlits works exclusively with gravity, without pumps. Fermentation takes place spontaneously in egg-shaped concrete vessels, whose form allows natural circulation.
Food recommendations
A wine for uncomplicated enjoyment: fennel sausage pairs just as well as grilled sardines with coarse salt and fennel seeds. Also an excellent choice with crostini topped with pickled beetroot.
Special features
The Graupert is a wine left to its own devices – and that is precisely why it tastes so alive. No pruning, no haste, no cosmetic adjustments. The cow motif on the label is more than mere decoration: it represents the biodynamic cycle that the Michlits family has been living for years.
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