Tasting note
NUMEN – the numen, the divine power of a place. This is how Johannes Zillinger names his top wine line, and the Muskateller 2022 shows why the name does not sound grandiloquent but descriptive. Zillinger, who learned the art of letting things be in Georgia in 2011, ferments this wine intracellularly in amphorae and leaves it on the lees for 22 months without any intervention. The result is a Muskateller that sweeps away all the clichés of the variety: no light springtime charmer, but a wine of density, spice and astonishing seriousness – dry, at 12.0% vol.
- Colour & appearance
- Radiant, intense amber with golden reflections – even in the glass, the wine signals that skins, time and patience were at play here.
- Nose
- An ethereal firework of aromas: mango, pineapple, orange and banana peel meet dried ginger, bergamot and cassia blossom. Beneath lies a demanding, serious minerality that gives structure to the opulent fruit.
- Palate
- A sweet-salty opening, entirely without residual sugar. The fragrant fruit floods the palate, yet the wine remains precise: density, spice, depth and a length that testifies to clear conceptual thinking in the cellar.
- Finish
- Long, marked by spice and saltiness – the minerality carries the exotic fruit far beyond the final moment.
- Terroir & origin
- The grapes come from the estate’s oldest vines in Velm-Götzendorf in the south-eastern Weinviertel, where the 23 hectares are rooted in limestone-sandstone soils. Here, sheep roam between the vines, Kunekune pigs and chickens loosen and fertilise the soil, and home-grown herbs are used for the vineyard treatments.
- Grape variety & vinification
- Muskateller from physiologically very ripe, specially selected grapes. Short intracellular fermentation in amphorae, followed by 22 months ageing on the lees without intervention – Zillinger’s approach, inspired by Georgia and practised since 2011.
- Food recommendations
- Its spice and exotic fruit make it ideal for Asian cuisine: Thai curry with mango, ginger chicken or a spicy tagine. Also an exciting choice with mature hard cheese or an orange and fennel salad.
- Special features
- The estate is Demeter-certified; father Hans converted to organic farming as early as 1984. A Muskateller that shows how profound and multi-layered this often underestimated variety can be – “wines inspired by nature”, as Zillinger himself says.
